Girl Time

This weekend my sister Lisa and I flew out to Boston to visit our sister Kristi.  What a fun trip! We went shopping . . . a lot.  We ate great food . . . some from restaurants . . . and lots of Kristi's exceptional cooking.  We also saw a few sights along the way.  Kristi and her husband Steve were such good hosts . . . and 7 month old Carter is VERY cute.

Ben stayed home with the girls . . . I am so lucky to have a husband that is willing to do that! And I can't thank Rebekah enough for coming over to do their hair on Sunday.    I missed my family but it was really fun to just hang out with my sisters and be a person and not necessarily a mom for a couple days.

Feeding the Ducks

I'm pretty sure Gwen ate more bread than she gave to the ducks:).   Having Gwen and Halle home during the day is fun . . . but a little different than last year.  I'm worried that Halle is getting sooo bored!  She turns five in October, so she can't go to Kindergarten until next year. All summer long I have not even thought twice about putting her in a preschool or anything because I really like having her home with me . . . and she has always been so good at entertaining herself.   Now that school has started . . . She seems to be a little more restless.    A friend and I are doing a playgroup/school type thing at our houses twice a week . . . hopefully that will be enough!

The Tooth Fairy Visits . . .

Halle for the first time!  I cannot even describe how excited she was about this.  A few days before her tooth actually fell out, we were at the park eating lunch.  She bit into an apple and started complaining that her tooth hurt.  I asked her if it was loose . . . and all the sudden . . . you could see in her eyes that she made the connection.  Halle said her tooth had been hurting for several days, and apparently she had had no idea why . . . until I asked her if it was loose! Anyway . . . when it finally fell out . . . there was too much excitement to describe!  It's a big deal to loose your first tooth!  

Kids at our house get a quarter from the tooth fairy for their teeth . . . and this has been a prized possession of hers ever since.

Halle is in the Spotlight!

Halle wanted to play soccer this year . . . and finally she is old enough to.   She had her first game last night and  had SO MUCH fun.   She loved being told that she is a fast runner . . . and I think she likes that her team has purple shirts.

Anyway . . . it is fun to see Halle start to do her own things.  We are all so used to going to games and such for Abby . . .     which is also fun . . . but it was fun to see Halle's eyes light  up when she saw it was her turn to shine.

The Search is Over

Ben and I have put this off for a VERY long time.  Up until now, we have  been fitting our family of 5  into a Toyota Camry . . . our one and only car.  This has been fine . . . but a little tight.  We finally broke down and bought a Honda Pilot.  We LOVE it!  It seats 8, has leather and a DVD player.  What more could we want?

Hiking the Y - a rare post by Ben:) - actual date of hike: 8/23/2008

Abby's been begging us for months to hike the "Y" (the mountain behind BYU that has a huge Y on it--made of cement and rock and painted all white). So finally Abby and I headed out early Saturday morning and we hike the 1 mile-plus trail up to the Y.

Abby did great! We hike up to the Y in about 35 minutes and she never really needed anytime to rest. Once we were up there we had a great view of the Utah valley (click on the pictures to see a larger version of each pic). 

We had a great time chilling on the "Y" looking out over the valley, BYU campus, Utah Lake, Seven Peaks (water park), etc. We also had a great time eating peanuts, Ritz chips, and carrots. You see, Abby thought we were only going to be drinking water and eating carrots on the Y--which she was so excited to do. Boy, was she surprised and SO, SO excited when I pulled some peanuts and chips out of my backpack that I forgot about from an airplane trip I took a while back! (Shelley may edit this but it's the truth! The secret is: keep expectations small... :)

On the trail...

Here's a view of the Y from where my office used to be (I'm standing on the dirt that's left...)

One thing I didn't mention earlier was that when we were sitting on the Y--eating our carrots, etc.--a man holding a baby in a snuggly dropped his water bottle and it bounced down to the bottom of the Y. As we were leaving, Abby saw the water bottle and said that we should go get it for him. So we got back on the Y and walked down toward the bottom and retrieved the water bottle. As we were walking back up with the water bottle the man with the baby was walking down (the Y is pretty steep so you always have to be careful and go slow). He was very appreciative that he didn't have to go all the way down to the bottom to get the water bottle. 

Later, I asked Abby if she had fun. She said yes. And then she said, "But the best part was that I was able to do something nice for someone." Needless to say, I had a great time hiking with my little Abby. I love my little girl!

1st Day of School

School started today!  Abby is now in the 2nd grade and has had a countdown all month.  I am happy to see that she is still at that age where she is soooo excited to go back to school. Yesterday we went to the school's open house and met her teacher and saw her classroom.  She found out that she knew a few people in her class . . . which is always nice.  Summer has been so much fun . . . but I am ready for the change . . . and I think the kids are too.

Luckily, I didn't break down like I did last year.   Last year, I sent her off to 1st grade on the bus and about had a break down.  It seemed like she was going to be gone for so long!  I didn't like not knowing who she was talking to or what she was doing or if other kids were being nice to her or not.  It was strange to let her go somewhere and have a part of her life not be under my control.  (What is wrong with me?)  Anyways . . . after about the first week of school last year, I came to terms with it.  She always came back happy, still the same Abby and really liked learning new things.  Hopefully she will enjoy this year as much as last year!