Indexing, family history one step at a time

So I am totally excited about indexing, which might sound a little weird to some, but it's true. A few months ago in the August 2007 Ensign there was an article about indexing family history records from your home computer, but since I was very technologically limited at the time it wasn't something I could be anything more than interested in. But Christmas came and, voila, I am now equipped to help bring more family history opportunities to others.

Basically what indexing involves are records that have been photographed or microfilmed from all over the world. After downloading a program from familysearch.org you, the indexer, look at these great, sometimes handwritten, records and type what you read into little boxes. This is an example of a page from the 1871 Canadian Census currently being worked on through the indexing program.

I got started today about 4:00, downloaded the program, went through the online tutorials, and indexed and submitted 42 names and information about people listed on a page of the 1850 Kentucky census. It was amazing to see the way the families were organized. There was one family with 42 year old parents that had 8 kids, with of course a set of twins in the middle. And then the very last entry was for a newlywed couple. He was 23 and she was 17. Farming in the middle of Kentucky. What amazing history right in front of my eyes.

One of my goals is to do more family history work for my ancestors. But it does take a lot of time and effort to get to know all the programs and websites and what work has been done, etc. etc. But this is immediate gratification. I can do something right now. I'm sorry if this has turned into some kind of cheesy commercial for indexing, but really I'm excited! I no longer have to feel guilty for not being involved in this amazing work! Hurray for indexing!

If you want more information go to either the LDS church website: http://www.lds.org/ and search for the August 2007 Ensign article on indexing, or go directly to http://www.familysearchindexing.org/.

If any of you have done this before, or if you try it, let me know how it goes!

A quick glimpse at our christmas morning:

We stayed at Brent's mom's house on christmas eve. It was very snowy, I think we got 10 inches on christmas eve, and everything was cosy and snug inside. In the morning Brent and I woke up at 7:30 and had some breakfast before we woke the rest of the house up at 8:00am. Santa had come during the night and the girls were thrilled to find special presents waiting. The man in red had come through and brought Laura her Cinderella dress and Eden a fureal kitty, among lots of wonderful presents. Santa, aka my sweetheart, had a new laptop under the tree for me, hence the prolific blogging, and also surprised me with season tickets to the Utah Symphony. Talk about a lucky girl! Brent was suitably thrilled with an ipod shuffle, but just as I knew he would be, was smitten by the little remote control helicopter in his stocking. We had a wonderful morning opening presents and eating a big old fashioned breakfast.

That afternoon we suited up and went sledding out in the fresh snow. The girls loved it, and worked off some chocolate-induced energy. They were actually great the whole day. I love Christmas, and this one was very memorable because of its sheer peace and happiness.

December Family Pictures

What you see:

-Our first familiy picture since Laura was 6 months old. Matching brown and creme sweaters, hair styled and makeup perfect. A happy little family.

What you don't see:

-5 hours spent trying to get matching sweaters. Browns are hard to match ironically enough. Last minute haircuts. sick children. the second attempt at a photo session, and stressed photographers.

But hey it all worked out and we got great pictures of the girls!

The Great Christmas Blog

We spent the Holiday Season in Rexburg this year, having both families in one place has its advantages. Laura, Eden, and I all have colds, so we had to skip a few of the Christmas Eve parties:( But we were able to go over to Maren and co.'s beautiful home for a few hours. We had a lot of great food, and Santa Clause made an appearance! Laura and Eden were both a little cautious, hence I'm in both of their pictures. But then again, it's ok with me if they're a little leary of a strange big man apparently giving away free candy. Hmmm. But we did have a great time, it was very christmasy!

Eden has a few new words! She's so cute I just can't stand it sometimes. There's just something so precious about an 18 month old. Anyway, my favorite additons to her vocabulary are 'buble' (buckle), 'hi goggie' (Hi doggie, she loves all animals), 'awa' (Laura), and 'OKi' (Okay!).
I love that she gets more curly blonde hair every day! She's even started to let me put some bows in.

I'm Back!

Ah technology. When it works it's wonderful, but when your internet is not available it feels like your sixth sense has disapeared. What did we do before blogs and email?! Anyway, here's a small recap of our past couple of weeks.

-Brent's been studying like crazy and took his final on Tuesday. He's been completely in the dark about how he'd been doing in the class. Bah on unresponsive teachers who don't post grades from important tests. But we found out tonight that he got a B+ in Advanced Engineering in Corporate Economics class!!! WOOHOO!!! Just don't ask me what it was about. Merry Merry Christmas!!! I am so proud of him. Did I mention my husband is smart! S-M-R-T!!!

-I get to play with the NewAmerican Philharmonic Orchestra and this year I was able to play in the pit orchestra for the Nutcracker, produced by a ballet school based out of Ogden. It was really great being able to play consistently again. It's a little frustrating though because I expect myself to play at the level I did in college when I practiced a whole lot more than I do now. But it was a great experience. We had a rehearsal on Tuesday night, dress with the dancers on Wednesday, and then performances Thursday, Friday and two on Saturday. Brent was awesome and has put the girls to bed every night. What a man. Now if I could only get the stupid sugar plum fairy tune out of my head.

-Laura has been herself lately. The other morning I was trying to get a few minutes of practicing in, and I thought the girls were doing so playing in the other room. But then Laura tried to sneak by me with a pen behind her back. She was honestly doing the side-stepping shuffle past with an innocent look thing. Luckily my Mommy-radar went off and I caught her because she needed the black pen to compliment the red pen she'd used to draw all over the wall above the stairs. She was being the teacher teaching all the little kids. Of course. Let me just say she went to time-out and I love magic erasers. Thank you Devony for teaching me about these wonderful lifesavers.

-

I love my backyard. It may be roughly the size of a postage stamp, but it's fenced. and the kitchen window looks out onto it. I loved it in the summer, and I love it in the winter. I can bundle up the girls and send them into the backyard for the approximately five minutes they'll stay out before they get cold, without having to go out too. Yea!!!

- I can't wait for Christmas. It almost seems like it's coming too soon! Just a mere week and a half away. Christmas please stay!

Sisters

These two have started to become friends. Of course they're still sisters and disagree about certain toys, but they've started playing together. Tonight they rocked on the rocking chair, played dollies on Laura's bed for a full 15 minutes before the fighting started, and are dressed up in princess dresses and making suspicious noises downstairs. I can't quite tell if they're having a watery tea party or getting in the cupboards. Uh oh, Eden's crying, I better go see what's going on. and Laura just called her a 'stinker'. Despite the little negatives, they're really quite good friens. A mother can hope, right?

Decorating our first tree

A new tradition, decorating the tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Laura and Eden loved trimming the tree. Their favorite ornaments: the red jiggle bells

The Second Christmas Tree, and it's not even December yet

I love the christmas tree ornament tradition that my family had. Every year we'd get a new ornament for the tree and when it was time to trim the tree we'd get to put on our own personal collection. Of course Ellen and I were a blatantly jealous of Sarah and Maren who always had more than we did. So of course, Brent and I have continued this with our girls. But this year we ran into a problem. A week after we decorated our little tree with our special collection of ornaments, including the girl's first ornaments, 3 of them were in several pieces. I know they're just decorations on a fake tree, but they're special to me. So I made a decision, keep them on the tree and get frustrated and a little unreasonable whenever the girls act just like a 3 year old and an 18 month old should, or I could take them all off, save them for a few years, and redecorate. I chose the second option. So thanks to Tai Pan Trading, yes the store is like a little piece of decorating heaven, we have our second tree of the season. All the ornaments are shatter proof and still beautiful! I love the way it turned out, and am grateful that we'll have a few more ornaments safe. At least until next year.

Ok, so here is another little Blog-tag thingymajig. But I'm here in Idaho, Brent's still in Utah, my kids are asleep so I have lots of free time to post about my sweetie:

What is your husband's name? Brent Ryan Beattie
2. How long have you been together? We've been married for 4 1/2 years, and have known each and dated off and on for 10 years! Holy cow. That's a long time.
3. How long did you date? You know that is really an odd question, I bet if we added it up not counting 'undating''time it would probaly be about 4 years. After Brent came home from his mission we were engaged a month and a half later though, fast, but it seemed slow!
4. How old is he? 26, a great age.
5. Who eats more? Definitely Brent, and he stays skinny as ever!
6. Who said I love you first? I really have no idea for sure. But I think it was Brent. Yea, definitely brent.
7. Who is taller? Brent, but it's not hard to beat 5'2''. His 5'9'' seems really tall to me.
8. Who sings better? hmmm, we sound good together.
9. Who is smarter? At math and testing and cars and math and financial stuff Brent, hands down.
10. Whose temper is worse? Me. Me. Me. But I too am working on it!
11. Who does the laundry? Me, because I'm home, but Brent's really good about reminding me to switch it when I've left a load in the washing machine for a few days.
12. Who does the dishes? Days, me. After work, Brent is great at cleaning up after dinner.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Define right. I happen to think we both sleep on the right side of the bed!
14. Who pays the bills? Brent. I get to shop:)
15. Who mows the lawn? Our HOA! They take care of our front lawn and Brent takes 10 minutes once in a while and fires up our little lawn mower for the back lawn.
16. Who cooks dinner? I do, but Brent is also a great Sunday roast man
17. Who drives when you are together? Brent. I hand toys and treats into the back seat.
18. Who is more stubborn? When we were in High School and Brent would be mad at me about something he wouldn't stew about it for about 3 weeks until I finally noticed that something was wrong, and by that time the whole problem had usually resolved itself. But now he's really good about resolving issues, and I'm the one who has a hard time giving up my point of view!
19. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Hmm, that's a toss up. We're both working on that one.
20. Whose parents do you see the most? Both of our parents live exactly 3 hours away in Rexburg, so when we go up to visit we see both. Plus we both have sisters who live in Utah that we visit reguarly. It's great having everyone close.
21. Who proposed? The unofficial conversation went something like this: 'Abby, what are you thinking about?' 'Oh, I was just wondering about getting married in June or July?' 'July, definitely july.' Officialy, it was definitely Brent presenting the sparkly ring!
22. Who is more sensitive? Hmmm...again it's a toss up!
23. Who has more friends? Me. But I need them a lot more!
24. Who has more siblings? We both have 3 sisters apiece.
25. Who wears the pants in the family? I wear pants. Brent wears pants. Laura and Eden wear pants. But we all wear our own pants!
26. Where did you meet? In Jr. High orchestra. Yes, Brent plays the violin too!
27. What was the first thing you said to your husband? We actually remember this. I invited him to come to an after graduation party with a bunch of friends, and he did!
28. Where was your first date? Our first date, which was my first date too, was climbing the R mountain in Rexburg. He and Ryan had climbed to the top earlier in the day and gotten everything ready for a fire and dinner. Then we sat on top and watched all the stars. Unfortunately the flashlights they had thoughtfully broughten along ran out of batteries and we had to climb down in the dark. Crazy boy!
29. Where was your first kiss? Christmas Eve when I was 16 and Brent was 17 on my parent's front porch. Our first kiss after his mission? Christmas Eve. Talk about romantic.
30. Where did you get engaged? The unofficial....in his '79 Dodge pickup. The official...on the railroad tracks on top of the dry farms.
31. Where were you married? The Idaho Falls Temple
32. Where was the honeymoon? A wonderful cabin south of Park City, UT
33. If you could have changed anything about it what would it have been? Absolutely nothing!

Ok, tag time...I'll start with my usuals-Maren, Sarah, Ellen, and I'll add Devony because she's here in Idaho with me for Thanksgiving break! Thanks Alli for tagging me specifically, it's always fun to talk about Brent!

Bear Lake Summary

Driving home from our wonderful Bear Lake Retreat Sarah and I realized we'd better jot down some notes to remind us about all the highlights of the weekend. Because I happened to have the notebook and was in the passenger seat I have the detailed, if a bit unreadable, notes. Here is a pretty good picture of our weekend:

The quote: "HEY!!! HELP MEEE!!!!"

Highlights:

• Dollar scrapbook 'Happy Bear-lake' Gift exchange


• The only men allowed: Josh and Michael B


• Perfect weather, all sunshine and crisp fall air


• Scrapbook construction zone, watch out for stray scissors


• The amazingly blue color of the lake, seen from rocks on the shore


• 2 momma and 2 curious yearling deer right outside our car window.


• 24 cans of soda, 4 spray butters, 2 vidalia salad dressing bottles, at least 24 packs of cider mix, hot chocolate, cookies, popcorn, and half of our children's halloween candy.


• Pasta, Pasta, Pasta!


• Going to the convenience store because there obviously wasn't enough food.


• Downloading Josh Groban's 'Noel' CD, thanks Sarah!


• Abby is apparently the only one who can skip rocks


• the absolute stupidest movie ever made, and yet we still quote it. and no, it was not Napoleon Dynamite


• Pill-popping (Ibuprofren) due to Mom's sciatic nerve pain, Maren's headache, Sarah's feet, and Abby's dratted head cold


• The never ending Phase 10 game of all time


• We were so 'coo' in the 'poo' (interpretation: so cool in the pool)


• The sprinkler splash, abby's backflop, Mom canonballs, and of course the dolphin dive


• 'Kick your trash'


• $2.50 to die for deserts at the Motor Cafe


• "Chirp-Chirp" cricket swarm!


• 3, 259,451 tiny bits of paper all over the floor


• 'Hey, it's daylight savings time, that means it's really only 2 in morning!'


• 20 extra pounds to bring home to the treadmills


• 4 anxious husbands, 7 wild girls, and 4 messy houses waiting


• And of course: 59 layouts and a mini book completed in one weekend!

Ins of this year:

• Joshie Poo and Buble' baby


• scallops, scallops, scallops


• funky photo corners


• big fuzzy jammies


• blog excerpts and lots more journaling


• 30 sharpie markers

Out from last year:

• Snow, no blizzard this year


• Ellen we missed you!


• Sarah working


• Complicated meals, hello frozen lasagna


• Olive garden on the way, we had quite enough pasta


• Titles on every page


• Babies, everyone was weaned this year

Improvements for next year:

• All photos in hand at least 1 week before the trip to avoid last minute developing disasters!


• A photo/layout swap


• Playing tennis at the local courts


• Walk the Nature Trail


• Everyone healthy, watch out Sarah, next year's your year to be sick.


• More CD variety


• Yellowstone?!

Oh bear lake, shall I see thee again? A year is so long, maybe we should do it again over christmas break!

Rainy Sunday

I love the weather today, it's rainy and grey and quiet. Both of the girls are asleep and Brent is at a meeting, so it's become a rare and peaceful hour. I was just thinking how up and down one week can be. This past one has been filled with not only spilled juice, colds, scrambling to get to preschool, tantrums, frozen pizza dinners, and all of us feeling overwhelmed because mommy is gone 3 nights to orchestra rehearsal and meetings combined with Daddy's study time, but also great moments like christmas shopping, nap times without crying, story time with blanets, date night with old movies, a hike to kaysville creek, cat tails, great hair days, and new friends. So many good things happened, including my sweetie surprising me with roses for no reason other than it had been one of the not so good days, and then the next day coming home an hour early to go hiking. Sometimes life starts out with a cold and ends with roses. So this turned out to be a rather philosophical blog, I guess I'll blame it on the weather.

Preschool Halloween Party

For the last two weeks it has been our turn to host Laura’s cooperative joy school. For 2 ½ hours on Tuesday and Thursday morning 6 little preschoolers sit on carpet squares and listen to stories, learn action songs, and talk about our feelings. We have snack time and rest time, and of course free play. It has been great having the backyard to run around in. Also we carved a mini pumpkin, made witch faces, and cut out sugar cookies (even though the box dough flopped and I had to make another impromptu batch from scratch) in preparation for the Halloween party.

On the 30^th at 11:30 the parents and siblings arrived and waited in the living room while the girls put on their costumes upstairs. Then the big moment finally arrived and one by one they came down the stairs. They looked so cute, almost like a mini Miss America pageant. Cassie was a Renaissance lady, Laura was a fairy princess and held her dress up to her knees to keep from tripping, Mary Alice was a mermaid complete with shells, and Karissa was a little witch. Once they were all downstairs they lined up (with a little help) and sang the two Halloween songs we’ve been working on: ‘First you take a Pumpkin’ and ‘I’m a Mean Old Witch with a Hat’. They did very well singing about how to carve a pumpkin, and their voices were very ‘witchy’ during the witch song, except for Laura. She wouldn’t put her mask up or sing, just stood there looking very regal. When coaxed to do like the other little witches her reply was,

“But Mommy I’m not a Mean Old Witch, I’m a

Fairy Princess!"

I knew I shouldn't have looked at Abby D's blog today...

So here I am on Sunday night, in my big pink fuzzy jammies lazily skimming blogs and all of a sudden it hits me, Abby D (also know as Abby 1) tags me. So you must suffer through my six facts about me. Here goes:

1. I do not like to clean. I like to have a clean house, but I do not like to clean. I have to do all sorts of motivational tricks on myself: setting a timer, spending only 10 min. in each room, having a cookie after every chore. You get the idea. But I love the feeling of having a clean kitchen! So I love to check cleaning books out from the library. Crazy, but see fact-o-two-o. So if anyone has any hints, let me know.

2. I think the answer to any question can be solved by checking a book out of the library. If you can't figure why your child is crying, get a book. If you don't know anything about budgeting, get a book. If you are terrible at cooking, get 5 books. If you're feeling stressed about life, get 10, preferably either fluffy clean romances books or young adult fantasy novels! We go to the library about once a week.

3. I am a compulsive list maker. Every day during breakfast I make a list of what I want to do during the day. It's one of the ways I cope, and enjoy, being a stay at home mom. If I have a plan, and goals, then I am much less likely to become bored and feel that yucky sense of pointlessness. Plus it is an incredible feeling to check something off a list. Not only do you get something done, but you get to physically destroy it. Before every vacation I make at least one list of stuff to pack. I already have my christmas list made of who is getting what, except for Brent's, who knows about my list obsession and looks them over every chance he gets.

4. I love string quartets. They are probably my favorite form of classical music. The perfect blend of stringed instruments, ensemble harmony, and soloist melody. I am happy that I am not a professional musician, but every now and then have a little remorse that I'm not as involved adn active in my music. And let's face it, I could be if I really wanted to be, but then again, that's a lot of work! I'll stick to playing with a volunteer orchestra and teaching my 3 violin students. And someday I'll get to play in a string quartet for real.

5. Hmmm, this is getting a little harder now. Aha! We don't have TV reception at our house. I have an awful weakness, that when a TV is on, I cannot concentrate on anything else. Some of you may know this about me and agree that trying to carry on a conversation with me while any program is on is not very coherent. It doesn't matter what it is, from Blues Clues to a commercial about bosnian children, it sucks me in. And I can't get it out of my head. I have to be extra careful about the content of the movies we watch because it plays they play over and over until I can't sleep. And when I do, I have nightmares. I used to dream in Gilmore Girls. So we just don't have TV. It all started because we were newlyweds and the TV we inherited was so old it didn't get reception, and we came to really like it. Life is a lot simpler without it.

6. Even though I hate running I'm signing up for the 5k in Moab in March. Brent is going to run the half marathon so I had to at least do something! I've been biking all summer and walking with 50 pounds of girls in the double stroller, so it should be cake! No, seriously, I'm looking forward to getting into better shape. So ask me how it's going and hopefully I'll stay motivated.

So I'm now tagging Maren, Sarah, Ellen, because those are the only people I know who have blogs and haven't been tagged. So now it's your turn to blog 6 things about you and tag 6 other unsuspecting readers!

A failed Family Picture

The timing was perfect. We were all ready for church, the girls looked adorable, it was a beautiful october day complete with perfect pumpkins in the background, Rosemary was there to take the picture. Why am I the only one looking at the camera?!

STUCK!!!

Go Utes!

This last Saturday Brent and I had an awesome date- the University of Utah football game! Because Brent is awesome, he was awarded these tickets and it just so happened that Rosemary was coming down for the weekend for little cousin Brayden's blessing. So she was wonderful enough to spend some time with the girls while Brent and I took off for some fun. It was a rainy, chilly day, but we were sitting pretty high up and just happened to be under a small overhang. It was pretty funny watching the row in front of us getting soaked while we were toasty and dry under our red blanket. It was a great game, 23-7 Utes, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy watching football games, I don't think I've been to one since the last Ricks College Vikings game.
So a big thank you to Rosemary for being an awesome Grandma, and a big 'Go Utes!'
p.s. if I have offened any BYU fans, please don't stop speaking to me, I couldn't help which game we got tickets to!

Our View

We may live in the middle of the city, but out our back door is a taste of home. Directly behind our house is are brand new houses, but to the south is a small field, complete with falling down fence and small barns. I'm sure a developer already has plans to put in several homes in place of this beautiful tree, but it reminds me just a little of Burton.

Bookworm in training

So I don't have any idea where she gets it from, but Laura definitely has a love for books. There have been lots of times that I'll notice that she's being extra quiet and upon investigation find her sitting in a corner with an open book. And of course it's always wonderful to have a little friend come and sit down with me when I'm absorbed in my own novel.

Of course Laura loves to have stories read to her, for as long as any adult will continue. Today she was pulling all of my books off of our book shelves and making a pile on the end tables. I got a little frustrated, this isn't the first time she's taken them and left them in random places, but I had to stop and laugh when she looked up at me with those big green eyes and told me, "But Mommy, it's the library!" So we put mine back and redirected her efforts to her own shelf full of books.

Also the worst punishment we can think of isn't a time-out, although she spends her own fair share of time on her designated stair. No, the thing that will stop Laura in her tracks is the threat of loosing her stories at bed time! Heaven forbid.

Laura's favorite book: Cinderella

Favorite book spot: anywhere, but especially on someone else's lap.

Favorite bedtime stories: The old Man and the Afternoon Cat, But No Elephants, Princess Jess

Favorite library book: The Princess Book

Books that I keep trying to get here interested in: Kevin Henkes stories

10 girls all at the Zoo

Yesterday Maren and Sarah came down to Salt Lake and we loaded all the girls up and bravely made our way to the zoo. It actually turned out to be a great day, it was aobut 70 degrees, the animals were out, and because it was a school day afternoon we basically had the zoo to ourselves. The girls loved seeing the albino crocodile and of course the monkeys were among the favorites, especially because we have a few little chimpanzees in our group. I think it's going to become a yearly tradition to make the pilgrimage and take all the cousins to the zoo.

I can do it, there's nothing to it, I can do it...By myself!

Those are the lyrics to one of Laura's favorite barney songs ( yes, my daughter loves Barney), and they apply very well to my foray into peach canning. I've canned for several years with my Mom and sisters, but this is the first year that I've done it all by myself without anyone near by to help me. I did put in a few inquiring phone calls to Rosemary, but on the whole it was really a one-woman deal. And I will say that I really enjoyed it. It was actually relaxing to make a really big mess and then have something pretty to show for it. Plus, all my bottles sealed, and they turned this really cool reddish color. So enough said, I guess I could have just posted the picture!

The pout

One of my favorite, ironically, things that Eden is doing lately is throwing herself down on the floor. Unfortunately it's so darn cute that it completely defeats her purpose. I know you're supposed to walk away when they do this, and most of the time I have to to keep from laughing, but this time I couldn't help taking a picture since she was in her adorable dress. Make sure to check out the shoes! (she also has big feet, these were Laura's shoes last winter, size 5 1/2)

Laura's first day of Preschool

This september four of my girlfriends with preschoolers and I started a Joy School preschool. So far, after 3 weeks, it's been wonderful. Laura absolutely loves it. She goes Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30 to 12:00, and sings and does crafts and right now has been learning about the joy of her five senses. I love having her in a constuctive atmosphere that's with her friends and isn't competetive. Eden loves having a little one on one time with me, and of course it's a lot easier to run errands with one girl than two. My opinion of the program may change when it's my turn to teach, but so far so good!

This is 'Miss' Rita, Isabelle, Mary Alice, Karissa, Cassie, Laura and Lucy on their first day of preschool.

Woohoo!

KSL, our favorite way to shop. It's where we found our snow tires, it's where we sold our entertainment center, it's even how we found our house. And now, tada, it's how we found this great little climber slide for the girls. It's just the right size for our backyard, and the girls love it. Can we say a little more reading time for Mommy in the lawn chair? Too bad it snowed today:( Hopefully we'll have at least a few more weeks of fall weather to use it before the snow sets in.

So of course I had to make one for Eden

Laura Geniel Wall Board

So a few months ago my Mom and I were garage saleing and came across 4 of these great stretched canvases for a dollar each. I snapped them up as fast as I could and they have been sitting in my scrapbook statch ever since. I finally decided Laura's wall needed something on it and put this together. I really like how it turned out, these are great pictures of my little princess. Yesterday I took a bunch of pictures of Eden to make one for her wall as well! I love it when ideas actually work out the way you've hoped.

Swiss Days Booty

Hee Hee. I love this purse and I can't wait to hang up my new shelf. Over Labor Day Weekend we always goto Midway, Utah and stay with Brent's Grandma Geniel. While we're there we always head over to the town square that is absolutely packed with people, craft booths, and neat stuff. These, plus a few signed Del Parson prints and a few Christmas presents, are what we came home with. Yippy!

So here is my shelf up on the wall with my cute purse hanging up. Happy Abby

Laura's Birthday Party

Because we moved two days after Laura's birthday we postponed her party for a week. But we did have one, and it was great. 2 of Laura's girlfriends, Lucy and Mary Alice came along with cousin Allie and Kylie. There were a lot of girls! They played in the sprinklers, made bead necklaces, and ate a delicious 'Dora' chocolate cake.

More backyard

I just love it. And so does my little artist

Ahhh, a backyard of our very own

Now this is what home ownership feels like. A fenced in little yard just big enough for two energetic, oh make that three, energetic kids to run around in. We are loving our backyard, and have lots of little ideas for making it even better next year.

Tautphus Park Zoo

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Attack of the cement stairs

So two days ago I was in the kitchen making a gourmet dinner of waffles and Brent was in the backyard playing with the girls when disaster struck. Laura went to run up our back steps and missed the first stair. She went face first into the other stairs and cut her mouth and scraped her face up as you can see from the picture. After we got her mouth to stop bleeding and got her calmed down with a popsicle and bandaids on other non-injured body parts she's been ok. We're keeping it covered with neosporin but it keeps looking worse each day. Hopefully tomorrow she'll stop looking like and abused child! Also tonight Eden has been sick with a nasty stomach bug, interupting Brent and my date. It's been a rough couple of days, and speaking of which has anyone noticed that Ellen is the only one without some sort of familial injury? Or does she still get covered with Mom and Dad?