Talking to a bird...

So, I'm unloading my groceries after shopping at Costco one day and I hear Elly talking to someone. I tried to get her to replicate the conversation for the camera, but nothing will ever be as funny as the original. She was honestly having a conversation with this bird...




By the way...I'm pretty sure she's saying "come on, silly goose!"

All Grown Up

Each time we go to the Provo Library, Elly brings her backpack full of books to return and we fill it with new ones. She loves the library- and more than once, I have carried her out in tears because she didn't want to leave. But, look how adorable she is with her backpack!

Hiking the "Y"!

We never did it when we were here for Brandon's undergrad. So, we really wanted to this time around. It was absolutely beautiful one Saturday morning, so we packed Elly into the backpack and Brandon hauled her all the way up that huge mountain. (I volunteered to wear the backpack on the way down, but Brandon insisted he do it again. It was pretty dang heavy. She's no feather, our little Bubbush.)




What a beautiful view! Look how happy Elly is to be there! (She had just woken up, actually.)

Happy Birthday...to me!

This was waiting for me when I woke up on my birthday morning, taped to my front windows by my lovely next door neighbor, Monica. Thanks, Monica! Everyone should have a sign like this on their birthday (and for a week after, cause I just took it down yesterday!):


My amazing sister, Keri, and my generous mom threw me a fantastic birthday party with as many people in the Salt Lake area who they could find (and who could come). It was so great to see old friends again.

High school peeps: Amy Richards Forsyth, (me), Rachel Roos Albertsen, Rob Ferre, Brit Cannon, and Tim Jaggi. (Not pictured: Ivey Lloyd Mitchell and Liz Gardner Jaggi)





Our dear friends from the mission: Lincoln and Anna Hale and Linc II and Baby Shiloh.





My above mentioned amazing sister, Keri.




More mission friends and two of my favorite companions: Selena Wing Robins and Hilary Black.


There were more people that I didn't get a picture of. Thank you everyone for coming. The party had an Asian theme with food from one of my favorite restaurants, Pei Wei. There were yummy desserts, but most of all good company and conversation. I'm so excited that we are all adults now and get to have adult conversations instead of things we used to talk about like "who is asking you to the dance?" and "what if my parents don't let me go on the senior trip?". It was a great night and I'm thrilled to be 30! And to everyone else who has recently or will shortly turn 30, I say: "Get on board! 30 isn't old. It's super fun. And also...it's not that different than 29. So, stop complaining about it."

Thank you.

Reading Aloud...

Elly loves to read and of course, she reads aloud. The first book she picked this particular night was the Church's pamphlet about Temples...



When she saw our reaction to her reading, she continued with another book and this time expected the same (or an even better) reaction when she finished...

Go Leopards!

A few weeks ago, Elly and I attended part of an East High football game. My nieces were part of the "Little Leopards" cheering squad and my cousin is a JV cheerleader. I had no idea what Elly would think of the game, the loud cheering, all the people and the mascot. Turns out, she absolutely loved it! She cheered and cheered. She loved the Leopard mascot and wanted to kiss it. She kept waving her pom pom and saying "Yay!!!" She is her mother's daughter, for sure. I did feel a bit nostalgic for my days as an East High Songleader when our football team took State my senior year.







My mom got Elly and Lily these matching faux leopard fur coats. Elly's was entirely too big, but she seemed to like getting into the spirit of the game with it.


I was really excited to see how into the game she was and how happy she was to be there. I wish I had caught her dancing to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" when the cheerleaders did their half time dance.




After the game, we went to get some ice cream and Emma and Lily were teaching Elly some cheers. Seems like she caught on pretty quickly:

A Tribute to Jack

Here's a little tribute to our friends Brett, Chelsea, A.J., and Jack(ie) Watts. We used to hang out with them in Visalia before we both moved, and Jack would kill us with his "mmm-kay" and "Jackie-whuppin." We miss you guys!

Elly Sings...in French

Frère Jacques