Where has the summer gone?

I posted those pictures of Elizabeth running through the sprinklers, while wrapped up in the front room of my house with rain and sleet falling outside, and I began to wonder where the summer had gone.



It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming Jared into our family.






It seems like just yesterday Elizabeth was starting swim lessons.



And yet, it seems like a life time ago that I was anxiety stricken over my little girl being wheeled away into surgery and wondering if her eyes would ever be normal again.


And it seems like a lifetime ago that we were taking Jared daily or every other day to the lab to get blood drawn, hoping that his bilirubin counts would go down.


Although I can't tell you where the time has gone, it has gone, and left a family filled with gratitude realizing the blessings we have been granted in such a short period of time. A new life, a healing eye, and a new found commitment filling our days with joy and happiness. I hope each of your families has been equally as blessed this summer.

Sprinkler time!

Last Friday Elizabeth had me get the sprinkler set up for her. She ran around all day in her swimming suit. I think I had to beg her to put clothes on so we could run a few errands later. It is so much fun watching her do new things. We have set up the sprinkler before, but she has never played in them much, mostly she likes me to fill up her pool, but since the sprinkler is easier, I am trying to convince her it is fun. She is so funny to watch. She will go right up to the sprinkler and let it pass right over her and spray her a ton, but she is too scared to actually run through. Steven coaxed her into it a few times, but other than that, she just runs up to it like maybe she will go through this time and then races away as fast as she can when it starts heading her way. What a funny girl.

Ahh....don't let it get me!

Into the fire

Hello Farrah Fawcett!

I can't believe I actually got this picture and it turned out clear! I love the expression!

Disneyland

No, we didn't go to Disneyland, although I am sure Elizabeth would love it if we would. After dance yesterday, Elizabeth informed me that her teacher was going to Disneyland next week, so they would have a different teacher. Elizabeth then asked when we were planning on going to Disneyland. I informed her that I wasn't sure, but not right now because we didn't have the money saved up to go. I also tried to tell her that Grandpa Sammy has told us he would like to take her to Disneyland sometime. So I said, maybe we would talk to Grandpa about a time we could all go in a few years.

She thought for a moment and then told me, "No we can't ask Grandpa he doesn't have any money. We would have to ask Papa, he has the money." Don't ask me why she decided that Grandpa doesn't have money and Papa does, but isn't it fun to see their minds in action! So Papa, since you are apparently Mr. Moneybags, next time we have a vacation Elizabeth said you can pay!

County Fair

Daddy, Elizabeth, and Papa visited the County Fair on Wednesday night. She had a ball. They got to check out all the winning produce, some of which was bigger than her. She loves animals and had fun looking at and petting all of them. Earlier in the day as she was getting ready to go she had been telling me about how excited she was, but she made sure to let me know that she didn't want to see the horses because they were too stinky. She told me she would just look at them but not get too close. Despite her claims, she did end up riding a pony. Daddy couldn't find anything she wanted for dinner (I guess the fair doesn't usually stock PB&J sandwiches or Mac n' Cheese), so she had an extremely healthy meal of corn, chips, root beer and fudge. What else can you expect from the fair, right! After checking out all the other stuff, she was ready for the rides. She rode just about every ride they had, and enjoyed herself immensely. Check out the fun pictures Daddy took of their adventures.

County Fair

Quick update: For some reason the embeded slideshow isn't working. You can click on the album above and it will take you to view the pictures on a separate website.

Dancing Girl

Ever since her last dance class ended over a year ago Elizabeth has been begging me to sign her up for another dance class. I just plain forgot a year ago to sign her up for a fall session. Besides that I hadn't been very impressed with the dance class she had been in before and wanted to find a different class.

Well, we finally got her back into dance and she loves it! I love it too because she has to go by herself (no mommies or siblings allowed) and she is happy to go. After the struggle with swim lessons this summer I wasn't sure how it was going to be. When I told her mommy wasn't allowed in the class, she told me she didn't want to go. But after the first class, she got over her fear. Maybe Daddy telling her that it is a lot more fun without mommies helped.

It seems like a fun class. They teach the dance principles by telling the girls they are doing princess walks and princess twirls, saving a princess trapped in a castle, being a choo-choo train, etc. I love that she is using her imagination and learning about how her body moves all at the same time! Plus, I am excited that this is a progressive program teaching her stuff appropriate for her age and dance level. Thanks Melissa for helping us find this great community dance group!

Greek Festival

This past weekend was the Greek Festival downtown. Steve had received some free tickets from a girl at work, so we decided it might be fun to head down and check it out. Besides if going down meant being able to eat a delectable piece of baklava, how could I resist. When we showed up at 5:30 we thought the line for food was long. Boy were we wrong. By the time we got through the line, ate and were ready to go explore a little more and find something fun for Elizabeth to do, the line was about twice as long as when we showed up.

After watching the dancers for a few minutes, we headed to the rides and games they had at the back corner of the festival. After much contemplation Elizabeth decided on a ride, Daddy decided that maybe he should ride with her. I got a few pictures of them as they went whizzing by.

Of course what is a festival without cotton candy. So, after they got off their ride, Daddy and Elizabeth waited in line for a little treat. Unfortunately the camera died, but we all had a good laugh about the boy running the cotton candy machine. He looked like he had grown blue fuzzy eyebrows and a blue beard. After Elizabeth finished eating her cotton candy she was blue all over as well. The sight of her made me laugh, and made we wish, once again, that I had brought the spare batteries. Oh well, next time right! It was a fun night spent together, plus any day with baklava is a beautiful day!

My little princesses

A couple of weeks ago Elizabeth brought me one of her pink baby bracelets and told me that Jared could have it and insisted that I put it on him. I told her that boys don't wear pink and gave her back the bracelet. So, the other day when she was playing dress-up and putting on her jewelry, she decided that Jared should join in the fun. She remembered that I said boys don't wear pink, so she decided that she would put her blue jewelry on him. It looks like I still need to do some explaining about boys and jewelry. Dad joined in the fun by putting one of Jared's earrings on himself and letting me take some pictures.

3 Months Old

Here is our 3 month old little boy. We love having him around. At 3 months old Jared is a fun and happy little boy. He loves to "talk" and have a conversation with you. He loves people and smiles for everyone. He loves to take his baths and feel the warm water on his head. He enjoys the little "massage" mom gives him after his bath and smiles so sweetly while I sing to him and slather him in lotion. He is our little heavyweight, growing steadily. He is so mellow and calm even with a big sister that smothers and loves him all the time. He is a great sleeper. He loves to eat his hands, which makes dad kind of crazy when he goes to pick him up and gets all slobbered on. We are really enjoying the gentle spirit he brings into our family!

Mom's First Race....Post Jared

Since most of the posts are about the kids, I thought I would let you know what I have been doing. In order to motivate myself to get out and start running again, I decided to train for and sign up for a half marathon. I didn't exactly train according to the training plan, but I got a couple of longer runs in over the past month, so I figured I would just go for it and try to see how I did.

The race I signed up for was the Salt Lake Half Marathon, a beautiful run that follows approximatley 9 or 10 miles of the 24th of July Marathon. As Steve and the kids dropped me off and I sat in the car feeding Jared, we watched the clouds on the east horizon turn a rosy pink, just before the sun popped its head over the mountains. The first 4 miles were the hardest since it was a 4 mile uphill climb up the backside of Emigration Canyon. The final 9 miles were down hill but not too steep, just a tolerable slope. Near the end I started to get quite hot. We dropped out of the shade of the narrow canyon walls and into the wider exit into the valley. The canyon was especially quiet with little traffic, other than the groups of bikers. It was such a peaceful run and rather interesting with the historical markers showing the path the pioneers took into the valley. It was a wonderful way to start the Labor Day Weekend.