Spring!!!

Sorry about slacking on our postings. We've had telecomunication problems. We're back up and running and ready to fill you in on the latest. First of all it's spring and we are finally getting some beautiful weather. Paige wants to be outside all the time. Her favorite is to push the stroller. She wants to push it into the road and doesn't really like it when we keep her out of the road. It's nice to run and play at the park and just be outdoors enjoying the sun.
Last week was baby animal days at the Amercan Heritage center in Logan. Paige has been learning all sorts of animal sounds so I thought it would be fun to take her up and see what she thought of all the animals. We went with two of my sisters and their children (it was their spring break). When I got their, Paige was wisked away in the stroller to hang out with her older cousins. They love to play with her and she really likes them.


The first activity was the pony rides. To get to the pony rides, you have to go through a stable filled with oxen. I told Paige that these were cows and she in turn mooed. She was kind of fascinated with them and maybe a little hesitant. Then they all started to moo at once. Since it was such an enclosed area, it was kind of loud and to Paige, SCARY! She didn't like them and was trying to climb over my shoulder to get away from them. I thought the pony ride would distract her so we hurried through the line. She wouldn't put on the required helmet and so I plopped her up on the horse just to see what she thought. The pony ride was not for her. She couldn't get off that pony fast enough. Maybe next year.


The next exhibit is the little animals. She wasn't interested in the pigs, or the goats, or the sheep for that matter. All she really wanted to do was push the stroller. We finally wandered over to the baby ducks and chicks. Now that was something that interested her. She touched a chick and thought that was okay then she went into the ducks to see that my neice, Breanna was holding one. She got down to Paige's level and Paige reached out, grabbed hold of the beak, and twisted. We were very lucky the duck's neck isn't broken. The next little animal were the bunnies. She liked them probably because they resemble grandma Roberts' cat. She petted and petted and then raked the fur. She just doesn't know her own strength. We are working on softly.


We walked around a little more and saw some more sites, the one that caught her attention the most was the plastic, bouncing horse. She rode that thing for a while until other kids started coming over to try it. She could have stayed there all day. I love showing her all these new things and waiting to see her reaction. She is so curious about everything.
Later was lunch at McDonald's playland with a slide just her size. That was a lot of fun. While Paige was down for a nap, all of the nieces got together to celebrate their birthdays and to make beaded bracelets. They got to pick their own beads and then they strung their beads onto an elastic. That was really fun and I think I got into it as much as they did.
Then for dinner that night, we found babysitters for everyone, and the adults all went to dinner at the Coppermill in Logan. It was a lot of fun to just have the adults their sharing a meal and actually being able to converse together. We definitely need to do that more. The worst part was missing Scott who was stuck at school all day into the evening. He works so hard and can't wait for the semester to be done so he can have a break too. Enjoy some pictures of our day with the animals.

Happy Easter!!

What a fun and beautiful day. We got up sunday morning, got ourselves put together, and made it to church on time!! We had beautiful lessons on service and fully committing ourselves to the gospel. The speakers in sacrament talked about the gift of the atonement and how each of us can partake of that gift. What could be more uplifting and appropriate than that. After church and naps, we went to my parents for a yummy Easter dinner. We had the traditional ham, potatoes, rolls, salad, and asparagus. My dad is an amazing cook and we scarfed all the food up. We did fit in an Easter Egg hunt in the backyard with the Easter Rabbit (uncle Scott) hiding the eggs in the snow and some hard to reach places. Who would've thought we'd have snow on Easter. Inside the eggs were some yummy treats that even the parents helped themselves to a little bit. Paige had a lot of fun picking up the eggs with all of her cousins and loved all the beads that grandma and grandpa gave her. Thanks for making them plastic and not lead based :). Our niece did tell us we were mean parents because the Easter bunny didn't visit our house this year but what Paige doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, Scott and I would end up eating all the candy and we definitely don't need that. Happy Easter to all and hope you're day was wonderful.

Spring Break!

This week Scott has been off for the whole week due to his spring break. I was in heaven! Since we had so much time together, we wanted to make the most of it so we went on lots of walks and Scott tried to teach Paige to drive (scary). We went to the stores to run errands, to the temple, golfing and best of all, the treehouse museum. Paige loved it. She could walk everywhere and she didn't get in trouble when she touched things. She really liked the music area where she could bang on the drums and make lots of noise. Scott and I liked to test our trivia knowledge of the states. We were pretty good if I do say so myself. Paige really like the curtains on the stage. Maybe that's all we need for her is some curtains to walk through. It was such a beautiful day so afterwards we had some ice cream and went for a walk. To end the week is Easter Sunday. We loved having this time together and especially playing with Paige who is so much fun.

Wicked Weekend!!!

I have looked forward to this weekend for 9 months. It all started when my boss came back from Denver after seeing the musical Wicked and telling us how much we all need to see it. My coworkers and I immediately got to work planning our "wicked weekend". The closest venue was LA so we thought why not? Plane tickets were purchased, rental vans reserved, hotel rooms booked, and other entertainment put together. Thirteen ladies ranging from ages 26-55 left early friday morning (with two of these ladies almost missing the plane) and arrived in Long Beach California ready to soak up the sun.

The first day we went to Universal studios. LA traffic was scary and I was one of the drivers who lived through it. Thank goodness for the GPS system. When we got there everyone had diferent ideas on what they wanted to do so each of the groups split up. There were no cliques and everyone was able to see what they wanted and what interested them. We had a great time. Later, we met up for dinner at Bubba Gumps with a little personal dancing from our waiters OW OW! Then attempted the scary drive home once again.


The next morning (after not much sleep), my roomies and I were up super early. After atempting to order Enchanted on the hotel tv, we bagged it and got dressed and then drove ten miles away for treats at Walmart. I have to tell you about my roomies. One was one of my best friend's, Maren, whom I have know for the last ten years. She and I have always had an amazing bond and I couldn't ask for a better friend. Her mom, Liz, also shared with us. She's my boss and a very good friend. We also have a close relationship so we were lucky to spend all that time together. After breakfast, we were once again headed to LA (with me in the driver's seat, scary). We got there early, parked, and then once again, everyone kind of split up to do their own thing. We wanted to tour the kodak theater (home of the Oscars) so we bought tickets to that and then toured the hollywood walk of fame. Hollywood is definately an interesting place with some interesting people. The tour of the Kodak theater was one of my favorite parts. I am of course awestruck by famous people (I read too many people magazines) so I loved picturing the stars sitting in the seats. Next was lunch and then off to WICKED!!! Wow is all I can say. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it. I only wished Scott could be there to share it with me.

After the play, I took one group of people in our van to tour the Hollywood hills and hopefully see some famous homes. I didn't count on Hollywood traffic and scary narrow streets. After sweating to death and a tension headache, that idea was bagged. So the two vans drove down to tour Rodeo drive. The shops were all closed up but you knew that they were expensive (saw a men's necktie for $300). There were some high school girls (paris hilton types) walking around with numerous bags. I can't even imagine their allowance. After experiencing an expensive dinner their, we drove home (getting more used to driving by now).


The next morning we spent in Long Beach. What a beautiful place. We decided to do some whale watching (thinking it was a short cruise of 45minutes). We weren't able to see any whales but we did see some dolphins and sea lions. The water was peaceful and the company was great. Then our three hour tour was done (yep, three hours). We didn't have much time for anything else but lunch. That was scrumptious and we decided the best food we'd had all trip (some went to PF Changs and some to Parkers steakhouse). We went to the airport and got into SLC late that night.


It was three great days of fun with some of the most wonderful people I know.

"Paigers"

I am amazed every single day at how big Paige is getting and what she is able to do now. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, I am just so excited to share all of my stories of her everyday antics so bear with me.

BIG GIRL - She wants to do everything like mom and dad. She is fascinated with brushing teeth so while mom and dad brush their teeth, she gets her toothbrush and does hers. She even moves the brush back and forth and gets them pretty clean in my opinion. Who knows, she may not get cavities like her mom. She also thinks that she can climb the stairs on her two feet. I was upstairs in the bathroom and the next thing I know, she is at the top of the stairs huffing and puffing because she has climbed up all the stairs by pulling herself up on the banister instead of crawling. She must be thinking,"if mom and dad can do it, so can I." Next is the telephone. Everything is a phone and she'll prop it up on her shoulder and have a full on conversation with the "person" on the other end including Hi, Bye, and courtesy laughing in the middle. Funny girl.

UNDERSTANDING US - Although she can't talk to us, she can understand a lot of what we tell her. She now knows what her coat is. We'll ask her to go get her coat and she'll get really excited. She jumps up and runs to the closet and then brings the coat back to us. She does the same thing with her Binkie. She knows there's always one in the diaper bag so when we tell her to go find her Binkie, that's the first place she goes. She also knows about sitting down. She'll try to stand up in the tub and when we tell her to sit down, she does. The same goes for the highchair.

WHAT IS SHE THINKING ABOUT - Sometimes we wonder what is going on inside her head. Why she likes one type of food one day, and the next day, can't stand it. She loves to rifle through the recycling and when she finds the empty milk cartons, will carry them around the house for a long time.
She is still fascinated with car seats and buckles. She will spend twenty minutes sitting in the garage trying to do up her car seat buckles. The same goes for the highchair. She also likes to plug the charge cord into the laptop and push buttons to see what happens. I think she is mechanically inclined with the way she tries to put stuff together. We've now bought her some big cardboard blocks and some puzzles to help expand her building skills.
She also loves to drape things around her neck. She'll "help" me fold the laundry by draping shirts, underwear, you name it around her neck. She also likes to drape any kind of cords there as well. (We are very careful and watchfull so she won't choke.)

SOUNDS - She isn't talking much but she knows so many sounds. She loves the old macdonald song and can somewhat say ee-i-ee-i-o. She can say the animal sounds of a lion, monkey, dog, cat, cow, and sometimes duck. She can say boo, uh-oh, bye bye, grampa (bampa), and thank you. We're working on love you and please but she's stubborn about those. We ask her daily to make these sounds and show her off to friends and families by making her repeat it to them. We just think she's too cute.

HUMOR - She is sooo funny to us and is easily entertained (entertaining us as well). She even laughs at herself sometimes. She loves baby einsteins with a passion. Our friend calls it baby crack because of the emotions it brings out in our children. She can't even contain her excitement the minute the dvd goes into the player. She gets to watch it while I'm in the shower and when she's screaming and out of control, it's one of the only things that makes her happy instantly. She also knows patty cake now and when it's time to "toss" it in the oven, she throws her hands in the air and shouts. It's her favorite part.
She has been able to go backwards down the stairs for awhile now but lately she's started to back up at a further distance from the stairs. She'll turn around and start backing up five feet from the staircase instead of right at it. She will also back up to sit in her Dora chair and for some reason, will misjudge where the chair is located. She misses the chair everytime.
One last thing she does when she's trying to fall asleep, is rub the tag of her bumper across her upper lip. She's been fascinated with tags since she was born but now she uses them to sleep. I bought a pretty expensive tag pillow for her for christmas. It has fun tags sewn in all around the edges of it but she is just too attached to the one on the bumper.

Scott and I are in wonder everyday at the little girl she is becoming. We just love her fun personality and know what a gift she is to us.

Melinda's Birthday

Yesterday was Melinda's birthday, and I must admit, I am one pathetic loser! No I didn't forget that it was her birthday. It just wasn't the most exciting birthday of her life. I did get up with Paige and let her sleep in. When she awoke, I made her breakfast (eggs, toast, bacon and her favorite beverage not named Dr. Pepper, Milk). That's about where the fun ends. Now it wasn't all my fault. Being in graduate school has certain requirements, and so I did some studying during the afternoon. This did allow her to just relax and do some reading which anyone who knows Melinda knows that she loves to read. So maybe all was not lost. I asked if she wanted to go out to eat but she said that she just wanted to grab something and go home. So we did and just hung out as a family. So not the most exciting birthday but at least since it was Presidents day we were able to be together for the whole day. Now the count down to 30 starts!

Happy birthday Melinda, I love you!

Melinda: It was a great birthday and worth the time I spent with Scott and Paige!! That is even more precious than all of the fanfare.


This picture was taken while I was "relaxing". It is such a terrible picture and I can't even explain the raunchy look on my face because I wasn't really annoyed but oh well. Prop me up in a Lazy boy with the computer, a good book, and a blanket any day of the week.


This picture shows what Paige and I did together during our valuable time. She is fascinated with hair and loves to pull I mean brush my hair. Good thing I don't have a tender head. :)

Holiday Catch Up

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Scott and I had a very nice Valentine's Day. Our tradition is to take turns every year planning the day (nothing big, just dinner plans). This year was Scott's year and I knew it was a busy time for him with school. He told me a few days before that he would like to take me to Tempanyaki. We've been out to eat on Valentine's day in the past and knew what a mad house it could be so we decided to go really early and I'd meet him there on his way home from school. I worked that day and Paige hasn't been sleeping really well so we decided to stay home that night and save Tempanyaki for another day. So he came home and started a fire. We ordered takeout from the olive garden (2 hour wait for take out but well worth it). And then he stopped for a movie. He wrote me a beautiful poem which I'm also going to post.It was a nice relaxing evening and just being together was really nice.
Valentines 2008:

Yes, I know
It's been too long
Since I've written a poem
I've done you wrong

The lapse ends here
It will go on no longer
But my love has not weakened
In fact it is stronger

So here's my attempt
To return to good standing
With the woman of my dreams
It's almost beyond comrehending

The past two years
Have been so good
So much has happened
And I ate a lot of food

We were so blessed
To get into the U
To stay close to family
And not have to move

And of course there is Paige
Who stepped on the scene
With her beautiful spirit
She's our little queen

With these things and more
The thing that matters most
Is having you at my side
To you, I make this toast

You are amazing to watch
As a wife and a mother
As you care for and nurture
Both Paige and her father

I can see the love
That Paige has for you
She lights up whenever
You enter the room

Everyday I'm reminded
Of why I fell in love
with your smile and laughter
We fit like a glove

Thank you for keeping
Our house in order
With the finances, laundry, etc.
But no DVD recorders

These poems never seem
To be enough
To express my love for you
It's just too tuff

But through good and bad
The constant is you
When it comes to this family
You are the super glue

Next was our outing to Logan. It's been a while since we've been to Logan because of all the illness going around, so we planned a nice weekend with my family. We went up friday night. My brother-in-law just had his ACL replaced on his knee and was still on "bedrest". We stayed with them so that night we rounded up his family and my sister along with my twin sister's family and went over to my parents for some chinese takeout while the kids ran around the house. The next morning was errand time. We took my sisters kids and ran around the town getting some errands done. Paige was a hoot and (at times) loving all the attention she was getting from her cousins. My niece was such a good babysitter and even found a way to trick Paige into eating a chicken nuggett. Scott and I laughed about that and wondered why we couldn't do that with her. Then we all went out to dinner that night to celebrate all of the February birthdays. When we go out, our family is so big that they have to make special accomadations for us. We had a great time talking and laughing with each other. Then the girls made some cute watches that night while the men watched the all stars. The next day we went to church and then ate birthday cake. What a fun weekend and such good company.