Mud-Maker

I realize that you see naked pictures of Lydia playing in the dirt on here a lot, but I promise, I really do get her dressed every day. And she's not always covered in dirt. Just sometimes. Like, every time I let her out the door.

She has perfected the mud-making art.

Collect water

Dump water

And play in the mud.

And sometimes, for extra kicks, she tries to sneak up on the cat and cover her in mud as well. Good times.

I'm not gonna lie. She makes it look like a lot of fun. Sometimes I wish I could run around naked in the backyard and play in the mud too.

Return to Utah, Trip #2

Like I said, two weeks after our last trip, we headed up to southern Utah again and we crammed as many things as possible into our trip!

First, we were lucky enough to be able to leave the girls with Aunt TraceCe and Co. for a night so Tim and I could go up to Park City. We stayed at Club Lespri, courtesy of TraceCe and Lamond, which is the most beautiful and fantastic resort/hotel/spa ever. The beds... I mean talk about sinking into a mound of feathery goodness. It was fun spending time with Tim, but because we happened to be up there the same day as Tana and Ben, we got to hang out with them too! We spent the afternoon relaxing and then we went to the Olympic Park area where we were able to watch some of the kids doing practice ski jumps into a pool. Very cool. We also bought tickets for the Alpine Slide, which was SO WORTH THE MONEY. It was awesome. I only feel bad because I asked Tim to go behind me in case I fell off, and I only ended up slowing him completely down. You should have plenty of time to get down the slide without someone catching up to you... except I didn't. Apparently I'm not much fun or daring anymore. Oops. Look what having kids has done to me...

Then Tana and Ben were nice enough to let us tag along on their anniversary dinner. And what a dinner it was. DELISH.

The next morning we headed off to the Outlet stores, with cash in hand. We were ready to spend it all. Too bad the prices were RIDICULOUS, and I couldn't spend any of it. Blah. So we headed back to our kids.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing with TraceCe's family, and the next morning got things ready to head north so we could go through the temple with our beautiful niece, Stephanie. It was awesome, of course.

After several more hours of driving, we made it back to southern Utah just in time to get some sleep before more driving to church in the morning. This is really why we went up there in the first place: to be in the temple with Stephanie, and to go to Tana's baby's blessing on Sunday. The blessing too was wonderful.

And then... any guesses? Yes, more driving. Lots and lots of driving this trip was. BUT, it was worth it. It was great seeing everyone again, especially Ben, who spent the last year in Afghanistan, and Stephanie in the temple. The time with Tim in Park City was just a bonus.

And if that all wasn't enough. We brought home another family member. THIS is Silly.

I'm not sure I ever thought I'd have a cat, but here we are. This is one of the baby kittens that didn't have her eyes open two weeks earlier. We forced weaning, and were worried about her learning to eat on her own, but she has surprised us and survived. What is more surprising is that she has survived Lydia's torments. You could say she's not super gentle with Silly. We'll see how long she's around...

Family Reuion

At the end of July we were able to head North, away from the heat, to go visit family and be at the Shurtliff Family Reunion. We stayed in Enterprise for a few days before the reunion, so the girls had plenty of time to terrorize the new kittens. It took a few minutes for them to warm up to the idea of the cats, but before the kittens could run for cover, Lydia and Brooklyn were toting them around everywhere. There were three batches: the older cats, the playful kittens, and the "not even eyes open yet" kittens. We had lots of fun relaxing and visiting with family.

On Wednesday night we were so lucky to get tickets to see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn. It was AWESOME. Brooklyn was nervous for much of the first half, I'm sure because she didn't know what to expect. She wouldn't leave my lap the entire time and she kept asking if Ursula was going to come down the aisle. I agreed, that would have been scary. But no, according to Daddy, "Ursula is too fat to come down the aisle." Whew. We were safe. Later in the show Brooklyn reassured me that, "Momma, Ursula can't come down the aisle. She's too FAT!" Brooklyn also kept asking "When is Arial getting married?!?!" I'm sure we kept the people around us entertained.

Anyways, the show really was spectacular. We loved it. Even the 100 degree weather after dark in St. George couldn't spoil the show. So normally we high-tail it out of there as quickly as possible because we have a long drive to get back to Enterprise, and when a show doesn't end until almost midnight... well, it's a late night for a 3 year old. But we decided to stick around and get some pictures with the cast members. Namely, Prince Eric and Arial. It didn't go so well. The screaming and crying ended abruptly only when Tim threatened to take Brooklyn to Ursula if she wouldn't stop crying. :)

And as if that wasn't enough of a vacation, we then headed up for the family reunion. Unfortunately, as happens nearly every time we travel, both girls got sick with some kind of stomach bug. Let's just say that camping with no shower access is not ideal for 2 children spewing from both ends. BUT, it was good to see everyone and the reunion was planned great! Plus, we got awesome shirts-- now my fav t-shirt.

And if all of that wasn't enough, we also found Mater, just hanging around practically begging us to take pictures with him!

That was the end of that trip. But we headed up to Enterprise again 2 weeks later for more family fun...

This is NOT an announcement

I know I'm still very behind on blogging, and I'm working on it. In the meantime, a story for a laugh.

Sunday morning I got up and got ready for church while the girls were eating breakfast. I wore a dress I hadn't worn in a while and I felt pretty good about how I looked. I walked into the kitchen and Brooklyn said, "Momma! It looks like you have a baby in your tummy!!!" I gotta say, that is NOT the look I was going for.

The honesty of a toddler...

That dress may never again see the light of day. End of story.

"Quiet" time= ANYTHING done quietly is ok

What does this picture tell you?

1. Brooklyn is on my bed during "quiet" time
2. My makeup is also on my bed during "quiet" time

FYI, this is not what "quiet" time is supposed to look like.

I was actually gone when this all happened, but I walked in the door minutes after the discovery. Brooklyn is very into hygeine and primping these days. She loves pulling her stool up in the bathroom and spending lots of time washing her hands, doing her hair, and brushing her teeth. She also loves pretending to do her makeup when I'm getting ready in the bathroom.

Pretend no more. Somehow she got my makeup, took it to my bed where she was having "quiet" time, and began applying.

But you have to admit, she did a pretty good job.

4th of July

After last year's 4th of July parade, I wasn't expecting much, but the people in town pulled all the stops this year and really stepped things up. The parade was great! Lydia thought running down the street chasing candy was about the best thing ever, and she could care less that cars and trucks were coming her direction.

After the parade we played on the bouncy houses, and obstacle courses, which were a lot of fun too... but with the heat, nothing could last too long. It was HOT. Welcome to the desert in the summer.

Conquering Fears

Both girls have always been fascinated by animals-- as long as they keep their distance. The idea of seeing a horse, cow, dog, cat, etc. up close sounds great until, well, you know, they're UP CLOSE. So when one of our friends offered to let the girls come see some horses, we decided to conquer some fears. (isn't it always easier to decide to conquer someone else's fears for them?)

Taking advantage of Brooklyn's recent infatuation with the movie Tangled, we assured her that the white horse was just like Maximus, and she even changed his name to such.

So we went from Brooklyn refusing to even look at Maximus, to petting his mane, to her sitting on him bareback and riding him around the corral. The crucial bridge was when Tim's arms "got too tired to hold Brooklyn" so he "had to rest his arms (holding her) on the back of the horse." From there it was a piece of cake.

Lydia, on the other hand, did not even want to look at the horses. In hindsight, it was probably at this point that she perfected her high-pitched scream. But we snuck her onto one of the horses for a picture.

And finally, the family shot. I'm pretty sure the horse is about to keel over with the weight of our whole family on him, but he surprised us and held up well.

So here's to conquering fears! ...at least until the next time we try to get too close to a horse.