Dress Up

Jayde had a sleepover the other night and there was not much sleeping at all. I think everyone got about three hours of sleep. The girls and everyone else involved were exhausted! Anyway, the next morning they woke up and found the dress up stash. Sara chose this lovely number that Kassi wore for either Halloween or a road show, I'm not sure which one.Anna found my favorite costume. One year for Halloween I wanted to be a fairy so my mom made me this costume. I loved it and still do to this day. I wish I was as talented as my mom!
The three girls. Jayde ended up wearing my mom's old prom dress that she had made.

They had a great time together, but I'm glad it doesn't happen very frequently. My kids need their sleep!

Beauty is Pain!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who makes Sara cry when doing her hair. Beauty is pain will be your new mantra Sara!



It sure turned out cute!

Family Reunion

We were able to participate in the Colledge Family Round Up reunion. It was so much fun to see all of the relatives I haven't seen in so long!
My aunt had a lot of games set up for the kids to do. The first one they did was let the kids sift through saw dust to try and find candy and money.
Then they were sent on a treasure hunt. Sara was in the youngest group and they were able to find their buried treasure pretty easily. Anna's group took a little bit longer.
Sara's treasure was buried in the sandbox.
I love that it was really a buried treasure in a treasure box.
While she was waiting for the older kids to find their treasure she played on this horse. She loved it!


Anna's group finally figured out where their treasure was hidden. Then came the fun part of digging it up. Turns out my cousin had buried it using a backhoe. They only buried it about a foot into the ground. I felt bad for the oldest group. He buried theirs with the backhoe as well, but buried it about three feet deep. They finally gave up digging and used the backhoe to dig it back up!
Anna showing off her prized treasure. She worked so hard for it!
Sara was also obsessed with this little machine in the sandbox. She figured out how to use and got really good at doing it.

We had a great time full of good food, games, horse rides and family. Thanks to those who took all the time and effort to plan such a great event!

Play Date!

Jayde called and asked if the girls could come and play with her new pool and slip 'n slide. It was a hot day so Grandma and I decided to join them. Hanging out in the pool.

Grandma and two of the her three girls. Sara refused to get into the picture.
Uncle Casey had to teach them how to use the slip 'n slide. They got pretty far!

Missing her rain boots.
The other girls got too cold and didn't want to play in the water anymore. Sara had the whole pool to herself and quite enjoyed it!

Parades

One of my favorite things about coming home in June is Lehi Round Up Days! I loved watching the parades as a child (okay...I still do!) and love watching my kids watch them as well. The first one we watched was the horse parade. It was so disappointing. Usually the parade last about a half an hour, at the least. This one was only 10 minutes long. I guess that there is a horse disease going around Utah right now so everyone was afraid to bring their horses due to that.
This was Sara's first parade where she was actually aware of what was going on. She saw that candy was being thrown and was super excited! We had brought some bags for the girls to put their "stash" in. Well, she thought that if you stood with your bag out they would throw the candy into your bag. She was a little disappointed when she realized that she actually had to work on getting it.
Aunt Kassi was put in charge of helping the girls get the candy and she did a wonderful job. After all three parades the girls ended up with a two gallon zip lock bag full of candy. I don't need to buy treats for a very long time!

Fun with Kassi

Anna was so excited to get here and be able to play with everyone...especially Aunt Kassi (and Hoss!). She was able to help give Hoss a bath and thought that it was the funniest thing. He really is quite the interesting dog.Kassi also introduced Anna to the fine art of playing with the hose. She made it rain....
And then taught her London Bridges...
I guess she cleared it without getting wet...Hence the smile!
Then she let Anna be in control of the hose. I'm pretty sure Anna cheated more than once!

The Drive

Our drive ended up being horrible!!!! The girls were such troopers and did great. It was the route and the roads that were the problem! In Missouri we were only ten minutes away from our exit when all of the sudden the road was barricaded and we were forced off the freeway. There were not detour signs or any reason for the closure. My GPS kept trying to get me to take an alternate route, but all of those roads were closed as well. Finally we found a gas station and stopped in to find out what was going on. Turned out that all of the roads were closed due to the Missouri River flooding over. Our little detour turned into an hour and a half additional time. What a pain. We finally made it into Lincoln, Nebraska, which was the midway point, right in time for a tornado warning. Oh, what fun. We were able to meet Zach and Erin and the boys there. They are only about five hours away from Lincoln, so they drove down to see us. It was so great to see them!
We headed out the next day and we were making good time, until we were right outside Laramie, Wyoming. Our tire blew. Are you kidding me?!! Well, later I discovered that if the tire was going to blow it happened in the perfect spot. Rob had warranties on the back tires, but they were put on by a shop in Utah. There were a couple of spots in Wyoming that covered our warranty and one of them was only two miles away. When we got there the owner informed us that he sold the last tire that would fit our car yesterday, but found a semi-used tire that would we would be able to use. I know that Heavenly Father was watching over us. It could have been so much worse. We could have blown in the middle of Wyoming when there were no shops or anything else around. Thank goodness for small miracles! We finally pulled into Utah around 10:30 that night. Our 24 hour trip turned into 27 hours. It was long and horrible, but I couldn't have asked for better girls. They were wonderful!
The one picture I took in Lincoln with the boys. I love how much my dad loves his grandkids!

Father's Day

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Father's day. Even so, it was quite eventful. I got a phone call a couple of days before telling me that my dad had decided to fly out and help me drive back to Utah. I was so excited! We had a little bit of a problem, though. His flight was arriving around 9:30 and both Rob and I had to teach Priesthood/Relief Society at 11:00. It was cutting it a little close, but we could do it. When we awoke Sunday morning there was a horrendous lightning storm going on. Because of this, they were not allowing any flights into Louisville. Yikes! So I informed the 1st counselor that there was a strong likelihood that I would not make it to teach. She just giggled and started praying. Well, her prayers were answered. For some reason my dad's flight arrived a little early. We sped as fast as we could and I made it just as they were saying the opening prayer. The best part...The lesson was on obedience and I had just broke the law by speeding the whole way to church. Do as I say, not as I do. Hopefully the Lord will forgive me for this one!

After church I came home and fixed Rob the most fabulous meal. Lime chipotle steak, twice baked potatoes, fresh green beans, a fabulous bread and for dessert...Coconut lime cheesecake. It was delicious if I do say so myself!

Then it was time to pack. We were leaving for Utah the next morning. While I was packing the girls took Grandpa outside and introduced him to fireflies. I was so glad that they were out because we had not seen them at all this year. But Sunday was so muggy that they came out in droves! It was great. The girls were in heaven.

All in all, it was a great father's day. I love that I was able to spend it with two of my favorite fathers!

Oh, Sara

Oh, my sweet Sara...Words cannot express how much joy you bring into my life. Especially when you do such wonderful things as this! (How rain boots are easier to get on than flip flops is beyond me!).

Recital

Anna had her dance recital this last week. They performed the Nutcracker, which I thought was a little odd since it was in June. But Anna was excited that she still got to perform in it. Sara saw Anna getting ready and insisted on wearing her ballet costume as well. When we got to rehearsals she also insisted on being on the stage and twirling. She is not shy at all!
All of my pictures of Anna performing are a little blurry since she was moving the entire time.

They were little dolls. I loved their costumes...They were so girly and frilly! One of the things that I need to teach her is how to dance with her tongue in her mouth. It was constantly out!


Her cute costume.
She got a certificate for dancing her first year with her dance studio. The cook is her teacher, Ms. Lindy who was wonderful!
Posing with her daddy.
And, of course, Daddy brought her flowers. She was so excited!

She did a great job. Her dancing has improved greatly! I hope she sticks with it!

Tired

I couldn't find Sara one day. I searched the whole house over. I finally found her, asleep, on the front porch. Guess she was tired and found a comfortable spot!

Update

We did the retrieval yesterday and they were able to retrieve 14 eggs. The staff was wonderful. The nurse that did my IV was fabulous! I didn't even feel it. The anesthesiologist was also great. His name was Dr Swayze. I wanted to sing She's like the wind to him ;). He kept me laughing, which was pretty great. Today we got the phone call that 12 of those 14 fertilized. We will get phone calls daily to let us know how our little embryos are growing. Tomorrow we should find out whether we are doing the transfer Monday or Wednesday.
I am still pretty sore, but keeping up on my pain meds. And it will all be worth it in the end, right?!
Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming!

Tomorrow is the day. Retrieval day! After only two weeks of stimulating (and tons of pain!) we are ready to go. I have to be at the Dr's at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, which means leaving at 5:30. Thank goodness for wonderful friends who are letting our girls sleep over so we don't have to drag them out at such a ridiculous hour.
So, toes and fingers are crossed and prayers are said.

Movie Night

It's been awhile since we have had movie night as a family. The kids begged us to do one tonight, so we popped some popcorn and watched Marmaduke. The girls loved it and enjoyed eating popcorn out of their special buckets. I love family time!

IVF Update 2

Last night was miserable! My stomach/ovaries felt like they were exploding. When I went to the Dr today I discovered why...We had 15 follicles on one ovary (the biggest one was a size 11...They want them to be at an 18) and I had a ton on the other ovary as well. Both the Dr and the nurse were surprised since we have only been doing the shots for four days. So far everything is looking good and we are preparing for a retrieval date of next Friday. Here's hoping that things continue to progress!

Firetruck

Tonight we were enjoying time as a family when all of the sudden we heard sirens. Now, where we live is a little bit off the beaten path, so we don't hear sirens very often. When we looked outside we saw that the firetruck was circling our neighborhood, stopping at the homes and letting the kids get in and play. Gotta love small towns!
As they made their way to our house we discovered that it was their collection drive and that was how they were collecting money. I was more than willing to donate since they were being so proactive about it and not just standing on a corner asking for money.
Sara climbed right on in and had no problem sounding the horn.Anna was a little shy and insisted on Rob getting in with her.
I don't think he had a problem with that. He was pretty excited to climb on in himself (after all he is a kid at heart!).

Thanks La Grange for once again proving that living in a small town is the greatest!