Trip to Utah

Well, technically we went to Idaho, too, but I didn't pull my camera out until the second leg of our trip. I'm horrible! We had a great time with my family, despite it raining every day for the 3rd year in a row. It's become kind of a joke.

The girls and I (Steve stayed in Reno and worked. Bummer.) made it down to Utah for a few days before heading back to Reno.

We spent a lot of quality time together. Ivy gave Carter some yoga lessons.

We tried to get a shot of the girls before church.

Anyone with a 1-year-old knows how hard it is to get them to stay in one place when they finally start walking and have more freedom.

Lydia had things to attend to.

Appointments to keep.

No time for cousin pics.

Fortunately, posing for pictures is one of the few things I can get both of my girls to do simultaneously.

Ah-ha! Great-Grandmas are really smart. We finally got all three of them in one picture. All smiling, too!

A-a-a-nd, one of us. Minus Dad.

Off to church!

After church, Uncle Devin reads to Lydia and Sophie.

Nice, Soph.

Sophie is sitting on the bed that my sister used to sleep on when we would visit as kids. My bed was on the other side of the room. I think they'll always be there!

Dad missed us while we were gone. Luckily we made it back by Father's Day!

I just remembered that I said something about an interview with Sophie. I'll have to pull that out and post it. 

Honestly, I forgot about it... this past month has been crazy. Did I tell you I catered a wedding open house 3 days before we left for our trip? It was fun, but seriously, what was I thinking? Then we had house guests the day after we came home (glad you came Beadles!), and two days after that I taught a pizza making class to some girls in our ward. Sundays are never a day of rest anymore, either. I kind of crashed on Monday and all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and eat cookies.

March: In One Post

Three weeks. I can't believe I haven't posted anything in three weeks. A lot of things have happened in the past few weeks, and this afternoon I'm finally to the point where I can exhale. And post a few things.

If you happen to read my recipe blog, you might have noticed that I've been posting regularly there, despite neglecting this one. I've started generating some income from that little project (which we need right now), and it's become a kind of part-time job. Thus, what little time and energy I had for blogging went that way.

I'm partially brain-dead, so this is going to be a list. Some of it chronological. Some of it might not make some sense. It's the best I can do right now. :)

Ivy's favorite thing to wear is a hood on her head. No arms in the sleeves. Sophie does it, too. All attempts at hairstyling have been put on hold for a while. Unless it's Sunday.

I had hoped the last visit to the urgent care would be the only one for a while, but we weren't so lucky. Four minutes into a church basketball tourney and Steve had a broken nose. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet.

Here it is the day after. He was lucky to avoid excessive bruising and black eyes.

It was around this time that I was called to be Primary President (basically in charge of the children's organization in our congregation). I know, right? We've been here, like, two months. Oddly enough I didn't freak out. I felt peaceful about the calling and knew it was inspired and that it was something I could tackle. Over the next couple of weeks I worked with the Bishopric (the leadership of our congregation) on choosing the rest of the presidency -- something that was really difficult for me, not knowing many people and having no experience picking people for callings.

Meanwhile, my Grandpa Dean was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis or "farmer's lung" after a few months of breathing difficulty. Basically, the air sacs in the lungs begin to harden with scar tissue, preventing the absorption of oxygen. The disease was in its last stages with no form of treatment and Dean passed away a few days later.

Dean wasn't my grandpa, but married my grandma after my grandpa passed away in the early 90s. He's been a part of our family for a long time, he loved my grandmother very much, and he'll surely be missed. (Snagged the photo from my cousin Sarah who wrote a beautiful post about him. Thanks hon. :))

I really felt like I should be at the funeral, and I wanted to see my grandma since I hadn't seen her very much in the past few years. Steve couldn't take any time off of work, so I packed up the girls, and we made the 10-hour trip ourselves. Thank goodness for DVD players, snacks, and audiobooks.

Dad & Mom with baby Lydia (Hillie's little girl) at the luncheon after the funeral.

The funeral was beautiful. All of my family was there, and it was the first time that all of my dad's siblings were gathered together in over ten years. (I think.)

We spent a lot of time hanging out.

Lydia, Sophie, and Carter.

The kiddos played together pretty well.

We got some much needed R&R, which prepared us for the end of our trip.

Sophie had a fever at one point, but it didn't turn into anything serious.

Oh yeah, and Ivy threw up the bed after she woke up Sunday morning -- the bed that she was sharing with Sophie. Sophie told me that afternoon that she didn't like having pizza in her bed. She preferred to have it on a plate instead. (Yes, you could tell what it was.) Ivy was fine the rest of the day.

My mom's birthday happened to be the day after the funeral so we had a birthday dinner for her. And I made her a coconut cake.

Hillie (sis), Devin (bro), and Andrea (sil) made her this rockin' flower arrangement. Seriously, why do florists need a degree?

(I'm so joking.)

Devin hijacked my camera and took some Pioneer Woman-esque photos in the backyard. (And probably some of the other ones on this post, but I don't remember which ones. Like I said... I think part of my brain has died in the last few weeks, and I'm waiting for it to kick in.)

While we were in Idaho, I was sustained as Primary President in my ward, and was already accumulating a list of assignments that needed to be done when I got back.

We had planned on leaving Monday, but because of the weather we stayed an extra day, which happened to be the only day out of the next several days that would be safe enough to drive home.

Sigh....

Monday was the day that all the "fun" began. After the girls woke up from their nap we drove down to Johnny Carino's for dinner. While we were waiting for a table, I was holding Ivy on my lap when suddenly my hands were really warm and wet. Ivy had thrown up all over my hands, my pants, her clothes, and a little splashed on to Sophie's shoe (which she was very stressed about and talked nonstop about for the rest of the night).

We get in the car and head back to the house. I began to feel a bit nauseous, but blamed it on being in the backseat of a warm, stuffy car that smelled like vomit. After a few minutes at home the feeling hadn't gone away, and I figured I was just hungry. We all get cleaned up, eat dinner (even Ivy, who seemed to be feeling OK again). I felt better, but an hour or so later the feeling came back.

After I put the girls to bed, I spent the next couple of hours near the bathroom waiting for the inevitable to happen and feeling grateful that I don't get sick during my pregnancies. (I have so much respect for those of you who endure that for so long.) I wondered how I was going to drive home the next day, how I was going to take care of the girls by myself, if I'd have to stay an extra week because of the snow, if I would get home in time to prepare for Sunday (when we'd be in charge of the Primary)...

I like this picture. I think Devin took this one, too. Nice work, bro.

Then my dad gave me a Priesthood blessing, which I'm so grateful for. (Thanks, Dad :)) That didn't stop me from getting up multiples times during the night, but I hoped for the best the next day.

The next day we packed up the car. I felt pretty weak, but most of the nausea had passed. I grabbed a 2-liter bottle of 7-up and a package of saltines and headed down the road. The girls were happy the whole way, I never got sleepy (which was a miracle for me), and we made it home safely.

Steve was really happy to see us. :)

Ivy hasn't thrown up since Johnny's, but she's had the runs all week. I think we had a stomach bug at my parents' house (No one else got sick as far as I know... it's weird that someone is always sick when we visit my family. Ugh. That's not a tradition I want to keep going.) Now I think she's getting her 2nd set of molars. That would explain the extra dose of cranky she gave out in Idaho.

A few days after we get home I met with the previous Primary President, had a 2 1/2 hour meeting with my counselors, prepared for our first Sunday in the Primary and then...

Steve and I got assignments to speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday. (What the!?)

Talks went well. Primary was a bit bumpy (as expected), and now I'm relieved of assignments for the next couple of weeks. (Yay, Conference!)

And THAT is what we've been up to.

Santa Cruz. . . on a cold day

My brother and his wife Andrea (and little Carter) came to see us last weekend! We don't get many overnight visitors (mainly because our place is, like, 900 sq ft.), and amazingly enough it didn't feel cramped! We did lots of stuff over the weekend, but the only place I took my camera was Santa Cruz on Monday. (I get lazy. Plus it's another bag to carry around.) Once I get pics from my brother I'll post more.

When we got to Santa Cruz it was about 60 degrees. If even that. We were all bundled up for a few hours, but walked down to the beach in the afternoon anyway. That's when the sun came out. Nice timing :)

The girls love playing with Carter, who's just a couple months older than Ivy. That kid is on turbo ALL the time. He cracks me up. I love his determined running.

A friend of ours, Hailey (Mack for those of you who may know her) came with her little 3-month-old Behr to hang out with us for the day.

I love these legs. Maybe I'll get some chubby legs on my next kid.

Here we have Ivy's limp-bodied refusal to walk when she doesn't want to go anywhere.



Both girls ended up liking the water this time. Sophie even ran out by herself a few times.



Then she turned into a mermaid. (Her dream.)



How did that sand taste, sweetie? I bet the third handful was even better than the first.

Home Again

We got back yesterday from a 5-day trip to visit my family in Utah. Despite the continuous rain and the flu that got passed around (that I started... oops) there were a lot of good things.

This tiny 2-week-old Lydia belongs to my baby sister. My baby sister. It's still strange to me that she has a baby. She's still like, 13. (Sorry, Hills.) I didn't get to hold her though because I didn't want her to get sick. She came away from the weekend unscathed, fortunately.

My girls got to spend time with my parents and grandparents, who they don't see very often, and we got to stay at my brother's house.

The girls had lots of fun with little Carter, and much to my brother's dismay, taught him all about dolls, jewelry, & pedicures. None of his toenails were actually painted, but boy, did he want it.

Those orange overalls kill me. He loves orange, so when grandma saw them there was no question.

Oh yeah, and this happened:

I'm not sure what made me do it. Maybe because I just barely had some decent profile pics taken (thanks hon!). Maybe because I turn 30 this summer, and I'm getting the jitters. Maybe because I only have time to make my hair look wavy and cute about 2 days a month. Maybe because I'm tired of pulling hair out of the drain, off the sink, off my clothes, off my children, and out of my food (heh. joking. sorta.) I donated my hair 2 years ago and thought I'd never do it again. Guess I thought wrong. Anyhow, a humongous thanks goes out to my brother's wife, Andrea. I love it!

Now we're back home & back to the grind. Steve has a three-week break from school, but he still has to put in clinic hours. We get him for a few extra hours in the morning, but he's gone until his usual 7 or 8 most nights. He starts his last quarter of school in July, then he's done. Forever. In case you're wondering (we get asked a lot), we have no idea what we're doing after that.

Spring Break for Mom

Some of you know already, but I surprised one of my best friends in Boise last weekend. It was kind of a selfish trip, though. Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to see her, but I also needed a break. From the kids. And the house. In order to have a break from both of those things for long enough to get my sanity back, I needed to go far away. So I hopped on a plane.

Stacy and I go way back. Back before everyone had cell phones and digital cameras. Before blogs and facebook, when you actually had to call people or sit and write them an EMAIL (oh, the agony). And we've traveled the world (well, a small part of it) together. Here we are in a metro station in Moscow, Russia. Ahem. . . almost 10 years ago. (yikes!)

This was one of the rare occasions that I went camping after I turned 18 (when I decided I'd never go camping again). I think this was at Redfish Lake in Idaho.

P.S. It wasn't 1994. More like 1999? 2000? I'm not sure. My camera was busted.

Anyhow, I've NEVER visited Stacy since she moved to Boise almost seven years ago. I've always regretted that.

We did grown-up girl stuff last weekend. Like shopping. Lunch in public without food flying all over. Watching movies without having to stop and break up a fight, change a diaper, break up another fight, confiscate lip gloss, put the kids to bed, put the big one back to bed, put the big one back to bed again, or fall asleep halfway through because I wake up at 7AM against my will every morning.

And I spent some time in the kitchen without anyone crying on my leg. (Yes, I cooked while I was there. I love it. And Stace let me do it because she loves it, too.) I believe it was Saturday night, though, about 24 hours from the time I said good-bye to Steve and the girls, that I realized I missed having this one tug on my leg and ask for cheese every time I cook dinner. . .

(and watch her open her mouth extra wide when she takes bites)

And I missed hearing this one walk in and out of the kitchen, talking to herself on the phone. . .

It only takes a few hours to start missing what I needed a break from for so long.

Happy 30th, Stace :) And thanks for letting me crash at your place and reminding me what it's like to hang out with grown-ups without needing to take care of anyone else but myself. It's nice sometimes. I still feel like me, but not wound quite so tightly.

P.S. Yes, I missed Steve, but not in the same way as I missed the girls. Because of his deployment, I think our threshold for missing each other is a bit longer than you'd expect. (Although I think he missed me more because he had the kids for a whole five hours by himself after he got back from Sac. Way to go, hon. ;))

December Part 2

Here's where the fun began . . .

5. Opening presents at home.

Stockings were pretty simple this year.

Since Ivy was so enthralled with the "big cats" at the zoo during Thanksgiving, we got her a set of postcards from the gift shop. She loves them. (Both girls do.) I think I'm going to put them in a little photo album.

6. The first stop on our Christmas trek: Great-Grandma & Grandpa Henderson's house.

And the first time either of them have seen snow (that Sophie remembers at least.) They stood by the window forever looking at it. And there were only a few scuffs of snow on the ground.

After we opened gifts, Sophie ran her new baby stroller (with her pink glittery purse hanging from the handle) all over the house. Yes, the floors are red. Red vinyl stuff. It rocks. The previous owners of the house had a. . . um. . . unique sense of style. We loved the red floors when we were kids, so my grandparents kept it the way it was -- at least in the basement.

Oh why do I not do her hair before we take pics? She doesn't look homeless all the time. Maybe 72% of the time.

Such a cute little mommy. I think this was the favorite gift from Christmas.

7. Second stop: Grandma and Grandpa Phillips' house.

I'm glad she found other uses for the stroller -- like entertaining Ivy.

We found this little couch at Downeast Home and couldn't resist getting a shot of them in it.

8. The cousins bonded.

Unlike the girls, I don't think Carter's used to having company in the bathtub. Grandma's tub was plenty big, though.

9. Steve got creative for a few minutes, too. I didn't see this picture until we got home.

10. Sophie and Grandpa fed the horses. One of Sophie's favorite parts from the trip was riding in the tractor with Grandpa when he fed the horses. She still talks about it.

She looked so cute all bundled up, too. She could barely walk with all that on.

This is my favorite picture from the batch . . . and perhaps from all of our Christmas pictures.

Hopefully I'll post more when I get a few from my dad. I'm surprised we had all these. Maybe we're getting better at documenting our own stuff. :)

We had a wonderful Christmas with everyone! Thanks Mom & Dad for hosting the whole circus!