"Tractor" Shirt

Oliver has this really ugly, orange shirt with a dump truck on it. He LOVES it and wants to wear it every day (he calls it his "tractor" shirt). Well, it has finally been almost 70 degrees here the past few days and I haven't let him wear it since it had these funny fake long sleeves and I thought it would be too hot. I had the bright idea of cutting off the "under" long sleeves so he could wear it as a short sleeved shirt. I put it on him and first he frantically tried to pull it down to his wrists and then burst into tears that turned into true heartbroken sobs. All along I thought it was the "tractor" that made the shirt special. Who knew it was the long sleeves?!

Emmaline's Funny Bad Dream

First Savannah and now Emmaline have been sick with something that looks exactly like strep throat, but apparantly is not. Anyway, last night Emmaline woke up with bad dreams (I think because of fever) and came to tell me. She dreamed someone was going to take her and she looked over at Savannah and she was a "broken Barbie leg." She said she was so scared she almost couldn't come to tell me. Remember that feeling when you were little? It was the worst! I always dreamed that this bucked-tooth, red-headed girl was chasing me in my dream. Or that I had to release these oxygen tanks at a certain time each day and somehow I got trapped with one and got released into the atmosphere. Makes you glad to be a "grown-up."

My finger

Everyone keeps asking about my finger... so here is the update. (Unfortunately Tyler has the cameras in North Carolina, so I can't take a picture- sorry Neal). The piece did not take, so I had to remove the whole flap. The new skin looks amazingly good, though. I guess I have Daddy's healing properties after all. I don't have a lot of feeling on the tip, but that is a small price to pay. The whole accident was such a freak thing, I'm just glad to have it over with and have as little damage as I do. Thank goodness for modern day antibiotics, otherwise I think I would definitely have lost the finger. Thanks also to Martha for being as bossy as she is and making me go back to the doctor (love you!).

Oliver's New Trick

Oliver learned the cutest thing yesterday. He takes my head in his hands and pretends to whisper in my ear. Not any real words, of course, just little soft mumblings. It makes me wonder what he thinks when we whisper to him! Georgia says Kevin did this when he was little, so maybe it's a boy thing. I don't know, but it sure is adorable.

Here he is hanging out with his new Easter Etch-a-Sketch.
(Check out Tyler's painting in the background.)

Happy Easter!

I had an interesting Easter. Everything went wrong! First, I made a cake, but my oven rack was lopsided, so the layers were super crooked. Then, it split down the middle when I flipped it over. Then, our teacher for Relief Society forgot to tell us she was going out of town so we didn't have a prepared lesson. Then, I had trouble getting things together for dinner and my house was a WRECK when Georgia, Kevin, Ryan, Tuck, Amy Jo, Micah and Stephanie came over. Then, my kids spilled the egg dye on everything. Luckily Georgia was able to get it all out (who knew that Bar Keeper's Friend can get stains off of wood and cold water just rinses dye right out). At the end of the day, the biggest feeling I had was that I missed the whole point! So I'm spending this week (which really should have been last week) focusing my thoughts on the Savior. Any thoughts/scriptures that struck you this Easter? Here are my kids in their Easter outfits. Are they cute or what?!

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it...

After a really fun sleepover at Micah and Stephanie's, I took the kids to the annual Easter Bonnet Parade at the Gateway. It was lots of fun, but as you can see, we suffered from the lack of Tyler's artistic input. Oliver thought the Easter Bunny was terrifying!

It's that time again!

Anyone up for a marathon? My top picks for this year are the Lake Tahoe Marathon (Sept. 30th) or the Top of Utah Marathon in Ogden (Sept. 23rd). The Ogden one is probably easiest since it is almost all downhill (probably get black toenails, though... ugh... I still have one from St. George). But the Tahoe one looks fantastic, although a bit expensive. There is PLENTY of time to train... even if you don't run at all yet. PLEASE... I really want to do one with someone I know. Any takers? I'm willing to go to your part of the country if that's what you need!

It's Spring!

We are finally having some Spring weather! We had a picnic lunch at Liberty Park last weekend. Savannah taught Oliver how to roll down the hill.

Here is Emmaline right before she found a pile of corn to feed the ducks along with giving herself and Ollie a snack (it runs in the family, Leslie).

Catching Up

Sorry for the long pause. My finger has caused me quite a few problems. I got an infection and had to have 2 days of I.V. antibiotics, not to mention lots of pain! I think I am on the mend now, although they tried to take out the stitches yesterday, didn't like the way it looked, and I will go back in 3 days to hopefully have the rest removed. What a mess!
Here are some fairly recent photos. Georgia invited Tricia (Mike's daughter) and her family (2 boys and another on the way) for dinner. The chocolate fountain was a big hit. We found Oliver in the kitchen with a fork, scooping away.

Here are Tricia's kids (Phillip and Patrick) having a little fruit with their chocolate.

A "Lucy" Moment

When Mama ever did something really dumb, she always said she did a "Lucy" thing (reference to Lucille Ball). Well... I did a real "Lucy" thing tonight. I turned on the disposal and it made a funny noise. I turned it off and reached inside to find what it was. Either the can lid in there or the disposal blade nearly cut off the end of my finger. We aren't sure if the nerves will live... we have to wait and see, but the doctor assures me that even if it dies, it will look much better than I think. Whatever that means. I feel so dumb!