Progress

This is Elly's fast forward version of the ABCs:



I like the end. The whole thing is very dynamic even if there is no real tune. It's definitely progress from the last version we posted (4 months ago).

Fort Recipe

Last night after dinner, Brandon made us a sweet fort in our living room using the following:
- one gas dryer and box (which is being stored there until it can find a better resting place.)
- one beach umbrella
- one king size flat sheet
- one king size fitted sheet
- one flashlight

All the ingredients were great ideas on his part. Elly absolutely loved it! Mommy, Daddy and Elly all got into the fort, laughed a little and ate some yummy treats purchased by me at the BYU bookstore earlier that day. It reminded me of being a kid. My siblings and I built forts in our house a lot. My mom was a great sport about it. She let us gather every last sheet and blanket in the house, displace every table and chair, and even let us have snacks in the completed project! I remember crawling through what seemed like miles of linen-covered passageways throughout our whole second floor. For some reason our plain old blankets and regular carpets transformed into a dark mystery world. And now, a new generation of fort builders is being groomed. Actually, I think Brandon enjoyed designing the fort as much as Elly liked playing in it! It was a fantastic family activity and most of us were sad to see the fort be dissembled later in the evening. But, no fear, wherever there is furniture and blankets- forts will be there.

Fall is here!

Elly and I went with some new friends up to Bridal Veil Falls this week. The walk from where we parked our cars was just a bit longer than we had anticipated. It was also uphill on the way there. (Read: I got hot and sweaty walking there and I had to eat 5 of Elly's cinnamon graham crackers because I neglected to bring a lunch for our three hour adventure.) But, it was all definitely worth the trek as fall has started to creep into Utah Valley and the scenery is beautiful!

Some of the troopers...being pushed by their moms!



People wanted to get in the freezing cold water when we arrived: (like I said, hot and sweaty)



I kept telling Elly the whole way there that we were going to see the big, loud, waterfall. But, when we finally got there- I didn't have the heart to wake her up:



The group:


Elly woke up on the way back and we grabbed these awesome fall leaves:


Both of us had a great time and we are looking forward to taking Brandon back to the falls soon...and parking much closer to them this time.

One year later...

Being in Utah has given us the chance to be closer not only to family, but to friends who are like family. We love that about Utah. Last Sunday, we were fortunate to attend Baby Shiloh's blessing. Baby Shiloh is the sweet little baby sister of Elly's friend, Lincoln. Elly did surprisingly well in this sacrament meeting...but as you can see from the pictures, the left pig tail didn't make it through to the end.





The last time Elly and Linc saw each other was Summer '07:


P.S. Elly is two months older than Lincoln, although she is about a head shorter. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Me too.

I have totally been affected by the recent Nie Nie accident. I've been reading the Nie Nie Dialogues for about two years now. Shy Girl even had two giveaways there earlier this year. Here is what Stephanie gave to me each time I visited her blog:

-a new energy to do things I wanted to do anyway, like make more healthful meals for my family, enjoy my daughter a little more, and pamper myself sometimes

-creative new ideas to help make motherhood more like an adventure, like have a back-to-school feast, make an easter egg tree or organic art

-a reminder to live in the moment

-a new interest in loving my husband a little more publicly

-a reminder to take a break sometimes. (I really liked that picture of her kids locked outside. Is that weird? I just thought it was awesome that she would post that.)

Well, apparently, I am not the only one who reads her blog and not by a long shot. Stephanie and her husband were in an accident in a plane a few weeks ago and are in for months of recovery. The blogging world has completely banded together in their behalf holding online auctions on dozens and dozens of sites to help ease the financial burden of their recovery. I just read in the NY times that the total of these auctions might be around $100,000.

I'm completely enthralled with their story and keep up on it on Stephanie's sister's blog here.

It's pretty amazing. Donate here to help.

For your viewing pleasure: "Pattycake" or "Pat-a-cake" or whatever it's called

...with hiccups.

Provo, Baby!

We finally got into our apartment and had a ton of help in the process. A super special thank you goes out to my parents, my cousins: Suzanne, Karen, Carly, Chris and Geddy, and to our friend, Justin. Just think of this as your lovely hand-written thank you note; I'd love to send you all one, but let's face it, I'm terrible at sending hand-written thank you notes, although I'd like to be really really good at it. I'm sorry. But thank you- we couldn't have done it without you!

This is what our apartment looked like the day after we moved everything in:


The Bubbush liked it as long as she had her bagel and cream cheese. Don't worry, when things are more in order, we'll post more pictures of our new place.


One great thing about our new apartment is that it's in Utah, which is where most of my family lives. So, for a special treat we got to go to IKEA with my sister and her Lily last week.


Lily and Elly are just as far apart as Emma and Lily were. Keri dressed her girls alike and Elly has inherited Lily's end of those clothes. They love to match each other now and people think they're sisters. It's pretty adorable.