Camping: Lessons learned

1-When the campsites say on the phone that they are 'first come, first serve' they mean it. And they'll fill up before you get there.

2- When Abby says that the little cardboard sign pointing up the mountain to some random campground probably isn't for the general public, she's right.

3-Brent won't listen and we'll go there anyway because the Subway sandwiches are getting soggy and we're all getting cranky.

4-Small girls and pregnant women will accept chocolate chip cookies as dinner in the car.

5-When you get to afore mentioned random campground and you find a beautiful little site, get out quick before anyone else takes it.

6-When you are sitting eating your late dinner and strains of 'Love at Home' float by on the breeze get a little suspicious of your neighbors.

7-Sending husband to ask neighboring campers if this is a stake campground is a good idea.

8- Mormons are nice and will let you stay, even if you're not part of their ward and it's their ward campout.

9-They'll even let you borrow their air mattress blower-upper since yours just happens to not work and you're 7 months pregnant.

10-Forgive husband because the pretty darn nice bathrooms are just a shortcut through the brush away.

11-Enjoy watching little girls having a great time crawling on rocks and digging in the dirt and picking wild flowers on our nature walk up the beautiful mountain side.

12-'Dragon snaps' are dangerous flowers that you have to avoid or they'll get you!

13-Enjoy the cooler weather in the mountains above Huntsville.

14-Make lots of yummy roasted marshmallows and laugh that mommy forgot the grahm crackers. Make delicious alternative with chips ahoy cookies.

15-Little girsl won't want to sleep in their own sleeping bags, even if they're pink and red and special.

16-Accept the fact that no one will sleep very much, especially on a half inflated air mattress.

17-Bring more blankets next time so Laura won't wake up at 5:45am with cold toes and refuse to go back to sleep.

18-Brent's allergies get worse in the mountains, come better prepared, but be glad you rememberd Abby's heartburn pills.

19- Despite the rough night, Laura and Eden loved their first mountain camping experience and want to go again soon.

20-Next time, we'll go for the day and drive home late to sleep in our own beds.

Where are they?

Laura and Eden's idea of a great place to hide... but all those giggles tend to give them away:)

We planted four rose bushes this year, and I've been anxiously watching them for a few months. Two of the bushes have only made a few outcroppings of new growth, but the other two seem to be doing really well. Yesterday I went out ot check on the buds and was delighted to find one lavender and two beautiful yellow roses.

Blogger can be really dumb

I just spent the last half an hour, my only internet time of the day, trying to get the new blog list loaded, see Sarah's blog, and twice it shut me down with error crap. adslkfj alksfdj klasjdf lkas., I'm just mad. grrrr. technology.

I'm not very good at doing little girl hair. I know I should be, but most of the time I just stick to the basics like pony tails. After staying in Idaho this month with aunts who are fantastic stylists Laura wasn't satisfied with just a pony tail. So here is my first attempt at braiding Laura's hair in french braids, and I must say I was quite surprised with how well they turned out! She looked adorable if I do say so myself. Maybe next we'll try strawberry mermaid hair like Allie's:)

p.s. Laura's had a fever for the last two days that I'm having a hard time getting to go down below 99. Plus she's super grumpy although you can't tell from this ballerina picture. It sounds like it's a nasty bug that's going around here. Bah.

Big Girl Bed

This week we took the plunge and converted Eden's crib into a toddler bed. I was very reluctant to make the switch, we've only recently made significant progress in getting Laura to stay in her bed at night, and since the girls share a room I had visions of bedtime nightmares. But lifting Eden in and out was really hurting my poor pregnant back. So...






But Eden has really surprised me. She loves her bed and goes right to sleep, more or less, for both her naps and bedtime. Only once this week have I had to lock her door and let her cry herself to sleep, and when I went in after the crying died out she was snuggled in with all three of her favorite blankies.

While the parents are away, the ladies will play!

While Brent and I were relaxing in California the girls were living it up in Idaho for the week. I was, of course, nervous about leaving them for a week, but these pictures prove my fears absolutely pointless! Rather than overwhelm my blog with 20ish pictures at once I put together a photo-collage in Photoshop. I'm going to add the journaling to these pages, but I wanted to get these on close to the other California posts.

5 years and lovin' it

There are a lot of romantic, sentimental things I could say about Brent and the fact that today is our five year anniversary. But I'll spare you and just say that all those people who told me before I got married that it would be hard and a constant balancing act were absolutely right. But those that told me that after a little while I would want out, were absolutely wrong. 5 years, 2 degrees, 2 apartments, 2 houses, 2 states, 2 2/3 children, being down to $7 in our bank account, going to California together twice, one ill-fated water fight, and lots of compromise, and we're still happy and in love. Of course, with a guy like this, it's hard to go wrong. Love you sweetie.

More Cali...

Thursday Brent was back in meetings so I got adventurous and got myself to Long Beach and visited an art museum. Unfortunately they had most of it closed for 'rehangings' so I only got to see a rather strange modern art/furniture exhibit. Oh well, it was fun being on my own for a bit anyway. That evening after staying for as long as we wanted at the Cheesecake Factory we played around on the beach and bought some souveniers for the girls.

We had an early, almost missed, Friday morning flight and then headed to Idaho in the afternoon to pick up the girls. There were so many memorable things about this trip, but mostly I loved feeling rejuvenated and relaxed. Being 6 months pregnant definitely put some limits on what we could do, but in a way that was good because we took everything slow and easy. It was great not having to cook and clean for a whole week, having a break will hopefully help me be a better mother and wife and maybe a little more adventurous in my everyday life.

California Continued...

Wednesday Brent had a half day of training and the weather was sunny again so I spent the morning reading by the hotel pool. After Brent got back we took another nap, had a great early dinner of ribs at the Claim Jumper, and then headed to Hollywood to see 'Wicked'. It was a really good thing that we left over an hour ahead of schedule because we hit horrible traffic about half way there. But thanks to Brent's maps and my stellar navigational skills we made it to the Pantages theater on Hollywood Boulevard with about a half hour in our favor.

The musical was incredible. Brent and I both agree it was worth every penny and hour we spent to get there. The plot was funny, interesting and thought provoking, while the music was modern and lyrical without being abstract or too pop. And of course the actors and actresses were phenomenol. We laughed, and I cried, and got goose bumps several times. I would love to be able to go again when it comes to Salt Lake! This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

We're back from California, and I must say we had an absolutely wonderful trip. On Sunday we took the girls to Logan where they hitchhiked with Aunt Sarah to Idaho for the week. It was hard saying goodbye, at least for me, the girls didn't even blink an eye! But for the first hour or two after they left I felt smaller, like my sphere of awareness had shrunk! But I knew they were in good hands and were going to have so much fun.

Monday morning we flew out of Salt Lake into Long Beach and after a slight rental car delay headed to Seal Beach, about 15 minutes away.

We spent the rest of the day taking a nap and visiting the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.

It was really fun to be able to go somewhere neat like the aquarium on a date, although I had to sit down every once in awhile. The aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in the states and features lots of hands-on exhibits where you can touch the fish and rays. Other highlights were the lorakeet forest, filled with hundreds of lorakeets flying free, and the sea lions and seals playing peek-a-boo through the glass.






Tuesday Brent had training during the day, hence the business of the trip, so I spent the day going through the little boutique shops by seal beach,. I also indulged in a pedicure since it's becoming increasingly hard to bend over that far. Even though the weather was very unCalifornian, overcast and a little chilly, I still made the most of the day.

That evening we went to an Angels Baseball game in Anaheim. It was my first professional baseball game, and I wish Salt Lake had a pro team. We sat in decent seats about 30 rows up in left field. But of course I forgot my camera, so no pictures, bah. In the first few innings the Angels hit two homeruns and were doing really well, so in the 7th inning Brent and I started talking baby names. Brent had this great idea that we should name our son after the next player to hit a homerun. As if on cue, up walks the Angel's designated hitter and smacks the first pitch out of center field! Yes, our son will be known as Vladimir Beattie! At least he'll have a neat story.

Hi, I'm Laura, and I start with 'L'

"LLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPTTTTTFFFFFWWWWMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHHHLLLLLLLLLLKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK..........RRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

LLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

That was Laura's message she wrote all by herself. It says, "I love my friend, I forgive you, and then I play with your toys at play time, but I'm going to Grandma's house!" So if you are a friend of Laura's, this message is for you:)

California Reading Material

Thanks everyone who made suggestions for books I could read while I'm in Cali. Actually, I don't think I'm going to be taking any of them with me, but now I have a few months reading when I get back! I may have to ask for suggestions every couple of months. Or get that blasted book club blog going again:) Here are the books I am going to take:

'Wicked',The life and times of the wicked witch of the west
by Gregory Maguire


Brent and I are actually going to this Broadway while we're there (yes, I can sense your envy:), so we're trying to get a little bit of a head start before hand. He's actually sitting next to me reading this right now.

Heart of Texas, Vol. 1
by Debbie Macomber


Truly a modern, fluffy, romance novel. I've read a few by this author before, actually off a recommendation on Natasha's blog, and liked her style. Adult, but still only PG or PG-13. So I happened to pick up a few more of her books on my last garage sale day. This one is two books in one, and I finished the first book last night. So I'm already involved in the story, so at least I know that I'll probably like the second half!



Talk of the Town
by Lisa Wingate


Yes, this is the stellar author of Tending Roses, and this book is the fourth in her hilarious romance set. These are by far the funniest clean, modern, adult romance books I've read. I've had this on hold at the library for a few weeks and it finally came in last Monday. It hasn't been easy to let this one sit idle in my library bag.


So there, what I plan on reading while sitting on the beach, in little cafes on the boardwalk, and by the hotel pool. I'll let you know how they are!

A mess and a snuggle

I did not sleep well last night, the pregnancy insomnia is starting to set in. So I was not thrilled when Eden woke up an hour early at 7:00am, especially since the night before she had been rotten about going to sleep for Brent.

I went in to find her still laying down and pointing to her legs that they needed 'bandies'. Not an uncommon request for Eden, she loves to have both knees covered. But when I tried to give her some she just got more frustrated. It was then that I noticed that her diaper was hanging half off and her bed was soaked. Apparently I should have put on my glasses before going in.

So we got her cleaned up and snuggled in her one dry blanky and sat on my bed and sang primary songs in hopes that she'd fall back asleep. It was while we were rocking that I realized how special a moment it was. Just sitting early in the morning with a cozy little two year old in my arms and a baby kicking in my tummy.

She never did go back to sleep, but laid in bed next to me and babbled for almost a full hour while I dozed and listened to the rain. So even though I still have a crib to clean up, I had a few minutes alone with my little Eden.

Ode to a Faithful Washer

I was laying in bed last night thinking of what I needed to do today, and of course laundry popped onto the list. It's something you can always count on. I know some people despise doing it, and yes it does get redundant, but if I don't get too far behind:) I don't mind it so much. Why not? Because of one of man's most amazing inventions: the washer and dryer. How many loads have been done in this washer over the last five years? How many stained white shirts and jeans have found new birth through it's churning action + color safe bleach?

So today I salute you, my trusty friend. And ask each of you this question: Have you hugged your washer today?

Changes

Today I had a little change happen: I was released from my calling as the primary president of our ward and received a new call to serve as the visiting teaching coordinator in Relief Society. This wasn't terribly unexpected, with the new baby coming in september, brent in another presidency, and working on his masters, we were a little overloaded. I'm really going to miss the primary; it's true when they say once you start to really love your calling you'll get moved. I was just starting to feel like I knew what I was doing. Plus I was getting good at those articles of faith. And I'm really going to miss hearing all of Laura's hilarious comments in the middle of Sharing Time. She's convinced that 'the rain comes down and the flowers come up' instead of the flood:) But I'm also looking forward to attending RS and Sunday School, something that hasn't really happened for a long time because in our last ward I was in Young Womens. So here's to change and growth and to everything there is a season.