Old

So there I was at the park pushing Emmy in the swings when this random lady pushing her kid in the next swing over starts to ask me a million questions. One of them being where I went to high school. She said that she was from Sandy, so she probably thought I knew some people that she knew that went to Bingham so she asked what year I graduated. I told her and she has this look of shock on her face and responds with, "Oh, well that was quite awhile ago." Seriously? Who says that?

Thank you lady at the park for making me feel old.

The fingers

My cousin took this picture of Emmy a few weeks ago. She always sucks her fingers like that so I'm glad to have it documented.

White trash fun

Last weekend we went to the demolition derby with Matt's mom and sister. It was lots of fun!

We wore our cowboy hats, ate some fair food, sat next to a lady with a femullet, cheered for a guy named Gus, saw a fire and a few rollovers and a couple of drivers get so mad that they threw things, and had a grand ole time.

The derby was part of the Utah County Fair, and I took Emmy to see the animals and she loved it!

Because...

every child needs some bath pictures!

Emmy usually loves her baths. Except for getting her hair washed.

She loves splashing and playing with her ducks and fishies and trying to stand up in the tub. Oh, and pulling the drain plug.

and of course a video.

Tour of Utah

Last week the Tour of Utah professional bike race came through Springville. Only 2 blocks from our house! So Em and I walked down to the corner to watch the riders come through. Here we are waiting for them to come.

It was really fun to watch the preparations. Here are some people sweeping the debris off the street. They also had some people out stopping traffic. There were some cars and police that would drive by first and they were throwing out prizes to the spectators.

Some of the other spectators were writing messages to the riders with chalk.

And here they come!

And there they go!

After they went by, a huge long caravan of team cars came by. It was really fun to watch and fun that it was so close!

Poor Matt was stuck in a meeting at school so he wasn't able to join in the fun. :(

Swimming

Today we were able to go to Seven Peaks with Scott, Mystie and Rivers. It was fun! Emily loves going there. Anyway, this is how I kept them both in the same place while Scott and Mystie did some of the slides. Treats! (This was necessary after they kept wandering off in opposite directions at the kiddie pool.) I don't think I could do twins.

We were also able to go with Britni, Kyle and Derek last week, but I unfortunately did not get any pictures of that. I hope that Emily likes playing with her cousins!

Grandma's Funeral

Grandma's funeral was really nice. Apparently she planned most of it herself. She even sewed her own burial dress. That's my grandma for you...making sure everything is in order. Even down to the last minute.

We love you Grandma and miss you.

Baby birds

Look what I have on my porch. They are so fun to watch!

Heavenly

If you want to die and go to heaven then go and make these right now! Chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter cups. YUM!

You can find the recipe here. Just a few tips: I would leave out the graham cracker crumbs and use mini chocolate chips. Also I would make a bit more of the PB filling and a bit less of the cookie dough filling. Note: These are super rich. Even for me. And I love rich desserts.

The blog I found these on is from my old spin instructor. She is hilarious! And I miss my spin class! Even though it's a running blog, most of her posts are about her food addiction, especially to sugar. Ha! You can thank me later for being so diligent as to go to a 6 a.m. spin class so that I could meet Janae and find her blog and tell you about these delicious treats.

Boating

Last weekend we were able to go boating with Matt's family. It was so fun! Emmy did really well. She loved riding around in the boat and waving to her daddy while he was skiing. She even tolerated wearing her lifejacket even though she couldn't reach her hands into her mouth very well. She sort of looked like Ralphie's brother with her arms sticking out high. Ha!

She wouldn't let me wear my sunglasses though. She kept taking them off my face! And she also kept taking Matt's hat off.

Then she smeared her chocolate cookie all over the windshield. Good thing for baby wipes! Cleaned it right off. We all got a chance to ski except for Michele before the boat died and we had to get towed back to shore. Matt even got his open water swimming workout in by pulling the boat onto the ramp. Too bad we're not doing our triathlon anymore this weekend since Grandma's funeral is the same day. :(

Anyway, we had a great time!

Goodbye Grandma

Yesterday I went to say goodbye to my grandma. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer back in October, and is down to her last day or two here on earth. It was hard to see her so weak and thin and unable to do anything. But when I walked in she smiled and reached out her arms to me. She said, "Pretty baby" to Emily and she said "I love you". I think she tried to say some other things, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. It looked like she wanted so badly to say stuff, but she just couldn't. Part of the time, she just looked at us and would smile, and part of the time she looked like she was crying. And then she would drift off to sleep for a few minutes. I'm glad she was mostly awake when we went so I could tell her I love her and say goodbye.

Anyway, it was sad. But I'm glad that I had the opportunity to say goodbye and I'm glad she will soon be at peace and with her family and not in pain.

She was a very caring woman. She was always taking care of and looking out for others. I remember going to her house as a kid and picking cherries off her cherry tree and playing in the ditch in front of her house and when she would take us to the park and the library. She was a very talented seamstress. She did the costuming for many of the church films, and she sewed me a prom dress back in high school and also my temple dress. She was in a lot of the church films too, mostly as Joseph Smith's mother. It was especially fun on my mission to tell people as we were watching the movie, "that's my grandma!"

I am proud of my heritage, she raised a good family. A few years ago I helped her make a little book with memories and stories from her life, and then I made her give it to me. I'm so glad she did that, it will be a treasure. In it she wrote...

"I would like to be remembered first of all for my love of God, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel. I have always enjoyed having a calling in the Church, and most of my personal growth has come because of my activity in the Church.


I would like to be remembered for my music. I hope my singing and conducting of choral groups has been entertaining and uplifting for someone.


I have tried to be generous with my few material goods. I have always paid a full tithe and have never lacked for the basics of life.


I have also tried to give time to help others, especially family. I had the privilege of caring for my great-grandmother Moffett, my parents, and my husband Mel when they could not care for themselves. It was not always an easy thing to do, but I learned things I probably would not have learned any other way. Giving service is a refining experience."

We will miss you Grandma!

Update: Grandma passed away on Saturday, August 6.

Weaning

This whole weaning thing just might be the death of me. Emmy has been so cranky ever since we took away her bottle and have been trying to get her to eat normal food. She still gets a bottle at night before bed, but her meals are rough. It's been over a week now, and she still hasn't gotten the hang of it. She will only eat 3-4 bites of her meal and then refuses to eat anything else. Plus, half the time she will put the food in her mouth, chew it up, and then spit it out. I don't know what to do! I feel like she is not eating nearly enough. For example, this morning for breakfast all she ate was about 3 bites of eggs, about 8 mandarin orange pieces and a few sips of milk. And that would be considered a decent meal as compared to others. Is that normal? And, one day she'll eat something, but the next time I give it to her she won't eat it. I am trying everything I can think of. Plus she is not sleeping nearly as well as she used to. She'll lay and moan in her bed for an hour before finally falling asleep. That is not normal for her at all. And when she is up, she's whiny half the time. It is so stressful! I am going crazy! I want my happy little girl back.

Nathan's Wedding

My little brother Nathan got married last week. They got married in the Salt Lake Temple and had their reception at the Provo Library. It was a fun day!

Allison and Kyle joined in on this folk dance, but they had no clue what they were doing, and so they looked like dorks.

Emmy had a rough day. She just wanted to get down and move.

We may have gone to 40 different stores to find orange and green attire for the wedding. I found mine at the 2nd store we went to. Laurie and Allison had to search a bit harder.

Grandpa was trying to help Emmy be happy by sneaking her some snacks he had in his pocket.

It was a long day for her. But we still had a fun time at all the festivities. Congrats to Nathan and Jessica!