Juan

I love to get packages.
Seeing the last name of an old friend on the package slip is even better.
Having to wait for several days for various reasons to go pick up your package is not better.
Opening the package and being surprised with a purple dinosaur is the BEST!

I cannot tell you all how my heart filled with glee when I opened the box!  When I was in high school, my friend Mary and I had an on-going debate.  You know those claw machines that you can get prizes out of?  Well Mary and I won a prize once.  The problem was that it was her money, and I was the one that got it out - a fabulous purple dinosaur.  If you predicted that a dispute on who the dinosaur belonged to ensued - then you would be right.  But the dispute was that both of us thought the other person should take him home! 

This little dispute is now in its 14th year.  Our purple dinosaur (who was eventually named Juan Tate) - has been passed back and forth between us many times.  Sometimes in full costume of some sort, sometimes not.  Here is a picture of Juan with some of his various outfits and accessories he has come to me in over the years.  You can spot a camo parachute, beach bum gear, a BYU t-shirt, a fake mustache, a sombrero, and even a photo of Juan dressed as an LDS missionary (he went to Puerto Rico for that one).

The last time he was passed on, was four years ago when Mary had her first child - a little boy.  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see Juan in the box as a gift to my little boy! 

I tried to get a good picture of Lincoln and Juan together, but Lincoln didn't seem to like him very much and even was swatting at him.  Perhaps it's a sign that Juan isn't going to take up a permanent residence here . . .

Rating:  1 Purple Dinosaur

Tooth

The First Day of First Grade and Emmaline lost her First Tooth!

It was loose when she got home from school, and over the course of two hours, she worked on it enough that at dinnertime it fell out!  She was so thrilled! 

It was fun to see her look in the mirror - convinced that she looked different and of course get the tooth ready for the tooth fairy.  I had no idea what the going rate for the tooth fairy is and I hoped she didn't know about inflation.  Turns out I was right, the tooth fairy brought her a sparkly quarter. 

We had the tooth in a ziploc baggie and AJ said that when he went into her room, he couldn't find it anywhere.  He was feeling all around under her pillow - all while trying to not wake Emmaline up.  Finally she rolled over and he spotted it.  The ziploc bag was stuck to her forehead!  I have no idea how that happened but after that the exchange when smoothly. 

Rating:  Too much candy!  Her teeth are falling out!

First Grade

I probably should have waited to do my last post until Emmaline was home from school and could tell me all about it.   The BIG NEWS is that after school today we discovered that Emmaline has her very first loose tooth!  She was literally jumping up and down in glee and saying: "My teeth are falling out!"

Here is what Emmaline had to say about 1st Grade:

It was really great.  I had three recesses.  Our special thing that we did today was music.  We played "Moo, Moo, Freeze." I ate lunch and had a snack.  We read a story called, "Don't Eat the Teacher."  It was funny.  My teacher was nice.  We didn't do workbooks today.  I learned that when the lights are off, our voices should be off.  I ate lunch in the cafeteria.  We had fun.  Dad dropped me off at school.  Mom picked me up. 

Rating:  1 School Lunch

First Day of School

There is Emmaline - off to First Grade!  We went to her Back to School Night yesterday.  Her teacher is nice and I think Emmaline will do great. This was our first time getting her to school in the morning, so I was pleasantly surprised to have it all go so smoothly with plenty of time to take pictures too.  I'm sure not all mornings will be like this, but I was grateful to have a positive start to the school year.   AJ will be taking her to school on his way to work which is super nice for me.  I love that I am only going to have to pack up all the kids just once a day!  Heaven!

Rating:  5 Lollipops

Growing Fast

Why does everyone have to keep growing up?  Liliana is now heavier than Emmaline, Emmaline has grown two shoes sizes in the last year, and Lincoln and Idgie had well-child checks today!

Lincoln 4 months old

Weight - 13 lbs. 3 oz. (15%)
Height - 25 in. (50%)
Head - 16 3/4 in.  (55%)

Lincoln rolled over for the very first time at his appointment!  The doctor placed him on his tummy to check his head control and FLIP!  Good Job Lincoln!

Imogene - 2 years

Weight - 25 lbs. 15 oz.  (35%)

Height - 34 1/4 in. (50%)

She said Idgie is looking great and commented that she seems ahead verbally.  It's funny because a lot of times I can understand Idgie better than I can Liliana!

Rating:  4 Lollipops

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park was having a free day on Saturday so we decided to head up there for the afternoon.  We checked a map and decided on a good location for a picnic and a little nature walk.  We went to a place called Sprague Lake.  The mountains you see there help to form part of the Continental Divide.

 I'm pretty sure the entire state of Colorado was at the Park with us but it was still fun.  On the drive in, AJ and I spotted a bear.  During our picnic we were joined by ducks and some sort of beautiful blue birds.  I wish I knew what they were!  In the picnic area next to us there was a group that was Christening their baby.  We took an easy nature walk around the lake and there was a couple getting married there.  They even had a harpist so we got to enjoy the beautiful music all the way around as we walked.  We spotted squirrels, chipmunks, fish, and a beaver on the walk.  Here are a few photos of that excursion:


Look!  We were there!  If you look really closely on the left hand side kind of across the lake - you can spot some of the wedding party.

Checking out the fish:

Lincoln spent the whole time snoozing. 

Liliana

Emmaline

Idgie - we struggled getting a picture of her but she did have fun climbing on very large boulders.  They all did!

On the drive home, we came across a big herd of Elk.  If you look closely, you can see them sitting down everywhere and this was only some of them.  It was pretty awesome.

So all in all a good trip!  I'm really glad that we made our list of fun things to do this summer, and that we actually scheduled it on our calendars.  We have done a lot of stuff.  I can't believe summer is almost over!

Rating:  Ham Sandwiches, Chips, Fruits, and Oreos

School Drill

School is starting soon so we wanted Emmaline to practice getting up with her alarm clock. That night we set her alarm for 6:45am but she didn't wake up until 7:30am.  When I went into her room, I discovered that her alarm had been turned off.  The conversation went like this:

"Why is your alarm turned off?"
"I turned it off when it beeped because my eyes were still sleepy."
"You know when school starts, you can't do that.  You have to get up no matter what."
"Really???"

Poor girl.  She has no idea she has just been introduced to the rest of her life!

Rating:  2 Fireballs

Utah Trip - Part 2

We spent the second half of our trip at a reunion in the Odgen area with AJ's family.  I remembered to take more pictures this time!  There were a variety of fun activites.  They made an Ultimate Slip and Slide.  Emmaline and Liliana LOVED that.

Emmaline and Liliana did some arts and crafts.

Idgie just loved playing in a tap with a bucket!

Lincoln watched from the sling most of the time.

We went bowling.

And we rode the FrontRunner from Odgen to Salt Lake - just because!  We walked around Temple Square for a bit and had dinner in The Garden with a lovely view of the Salt Lake Temple.  Emmaline declared that we could cross "picnic at a Temple" off our list. 

At the end of it all we were exhausted!  (did you know three little girls can fit on a queen mattress?)

A couple of highlights that we didn't have pictures of:  Idgie got stung by wasps 5 times.  She dealt with that amazingly well!  And one of AJ's cousins is married to the owner of a restaurant called the Prairie Schooner and we got to eat there for breakfast one morning.

For some reason the drive home went much faster than the drive out.  I think we were just anxious to get home so we plowed right through.  As we hit the Colorado border, there was a rain storm and then beautiful rainbows that we enjoyed for miles and miles.  It was awesome. 

Rating:  5 Lollipops (the rainbow type!)

Utah Trip - Part 1

We took a trip this summer to Utah for back-to-back family reunions.   We saw my family from July 30-Aug 3, and AJ's family from Aug 4-Aug 8.  It was quite exhausting!

We pulled out of Colorado at the crack of dawn on July 30.  I remember as we pulled out the driveway, telling AJ that I felt really good and that we hadn't forgotten anything at all!  Since we left so early, we didn't even get the kids dressed, we literally took them from their beds to their carseats.  A couple of hours into the trip, we stopped to eat some breakfast and change into clothes for the day.  It wasn't too long after that, that we realized we had forgotten an entire box at home!  Luckily it wasn't anything that we couldn't replace easily on the trip, but it was annoying just the same! We stopped every few hours for potty and food breaks - the drive went as well as could be expected for having four kids in the car.

My pulled up to my Grandparent's cabin in Mantua, UT about 11 hours after we had left home (a kid-less vehicle could do it in 8).  The reunion with my family was pretty low-key.  We just visited and enjoyed the company.  The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and playing in the creek.  The big event was on Saturday, when we celebrated my Grandpa's 87th birthday.  Quite a few more aunts, uncles, and cousins showed up for that.

I realized that I forgot to take any pictures until the last day, so there aren't really that many.  But we did take one of our family on the stairs down to the creek.  Look!  It's us!  We were there!

After the reunion, we stayed for a few days at my sister's house.  I got a chance to do one of my favorite things and go to D.I.  D.I. is like the mother of all thrift stores.  It was so hard to walk through there knowing that I couldn't get too much or anything too big - because we had to fit it in the van on the way home!  My sister also introduced me to the Honeyville Outlet where I again, had a hard time holding back on all the many fun things they have.  I confess I did find room for 50# of steel cut oats in our van - among other things.

I also got a chance to have a playdate with my old boss and her kids.  That probably sounds weird to the average person - but you don't work at a job like CPS without forming some life long bonds.  AJ also got a chance to visit a friend of his.  They spent the day together doing whatever it is that guys do!

Rating:  1 #10 can of dried Mango