Thursday, July 31, 2008

Two Posts in One: First words and Eebee Jeebees

Shayden is starting to use more words. I would say her first word was "Shoe." She says that word the best. She also says "bah" for ball, "hah" for hot, "uh" for uh oh, and "out" for ouch. She really likes to put on shoes big or small.

Speaking of shoes, I was putting on these slippers that Paul got me for Christmas, nice fluffy ones, this morning to take Paul to work. When I stuck my foot in I said to myself, "Usually I can only feel the tag, but there's another bump in there. Mmmm...I guess Shay stuck something in it." So I tried to get it out with my foot a couple times and a big spider came out and ran behind our bedroom door. blawapakajawa. I started screaming and thought I would faint or throw up or both. Ugh! I hate spiders. I got Paul to kill one already this morning, and they're not small either...they're about the size of a half dollar coin. It took me a while before I could put the slipper back on so we could go. We've had spiders and earwigs and other bugs roaming around our house the past month. Maybe we'll move into an upstairs apartment in our complex in the next while to get away from it. Blah!

Paul is finally home! Yeah! He had a blast camping and is now getting ready for A.T. We'll leave on Saturday. It's nice he'll stay close to home...only have to go as far as Camp Williams.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Dancing girl

Ode to Cocoa and Rex

When I was growing up we had a few wiener/doxen poodle mix dogs. The ones I remember most were Cocoa and Rex. When I was little my first word was Ginger, our wiener dog at the time. It would be cool if I could make up a cool poem about them, but I was just running this morning and saw a wiener dog in a nearby neighborhood. I thought I would put a special post just for them.

A while ago Paul and I were running past this same wiener dog and it tried to jump from the top of the curb to the road but got stuck half way because its legs were too short. I thought it was so funny...ah life's funny moments.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Sheffer Reunion

Shayden and I just got back last night from the Sheffer Reunion. It was a ton of fun! Paul, Shay and I went out on the lake with Kami's tubes and just swam around...kinda muddy. Shayden got really dirty and loved it. The only time I got my camera out though, was when she took a nap. Here she is half way in and out of my parents' tent not looking very tired. She was just having too much fun. Even when I laid her down she would go to one end of the crib and belly flop on the blankets over and over. She's a party animal. Dillon was good and fell asleep in the tent just next to her. There were some lighting storms in the distance pretty much the whole time, but it didn't come over until right as we left. It felt so good to be around everyone and just talk and have fun. I LOVE MY FAMILY! Alisa was nice and let me play horseshoes with her. After a long time we decided to call Alisa the winner when she got the first point. I'm not very good at that game and it was hot. We were both tired. Camping was a blast. Paul left early on Saturday after we played in the water to go camping with Cuyler and Scott for the next few days. I spent the rest of the day and Sunday with Kami and Teri. Teri took me back to Logan with her Sunday night. She was so nice to do that for me. When we were leaving Riverton I was able to see Ashley Ross who just got home from her mission. Sweet! She is one of the most amazing people ever. And, I also got to look at Parker from far far away. He's finally home! Sheila was gone when we were there both times, but I just looked at him from far away. He seemed happy to be there. It was kinda funny when we were leaving. A huge wind storm picked up and a big box blew right onto Teri's car as we were heading toward Bangerter. Whoa! We couldn't get it off for a while, but finally did. Random. We got home safe and sound.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Parades, Noses and Cool Glasses

Because my last post wasn't very happy I decided to post about happy things for the next week at least.

Things have been going really good, and we've been enjoying the summer. Shayden and I went to the Logan Aquatic Center with Joanna and her kids and saw Curtis Shumway there. It was way fun. We'll definitely go again soon.

Shayden loves glasses. I took these pictures one right after the other.


She's a hottie.

For the 24th Shayden and I ran in the Logan Fun Run 5k. It was so much fun!! I thought I'd have to go pretty slow, but I ended up getting a 22:55 without feeling much fatigue. The people there were so cool AND it was free. How cool can life get?! Cody and Lisa came too and gave me a ride since Paul had to work Home Depot. It was fun to have Lisa's parents and Sara there too. They dressed up in Pioneer clothes...cool!

Shayden loved the parade. And she likes to tap her nose.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Rainy Day

This morning it was thundering and rained a little which made everything smell all fresh and clean. Mmmm rain smells so good. It felt nice then, but now it's hot and humid.

The last few days have been good and full. Kit came up from Monticello to visit Grandmother and stopped by to see us when he and Celia were in town on Friday. It was kind of a bummer night, though because we decided to go out to eat and Paul and I wanted to share a plate to save money, but the dish we wanted came with a salad bar and they wouldn't allow it and called us "cheater eaters." That made Paul all mad, so it wasn't very fun. Then Kit wanted to see a movie...Dark Night, the new batman/joker movie...but it was sold out and the parking lot was so full Kit hit someone backing out and there was a big mess there. P.S. DO NOT watch that movie. Everyone that I've talked to that's seen it says it is very evil. I actually got scared watching the trailer for it. It's a good thing it was sold out. We ended up just going back to our house and falling asleep. Paul, Shay and I were pretty tired.

Sundays are always good. Our ward is awesome! We were surprised to have Stuart Shumway, a member of our Stake High Counsel speak in Sacrament meeting. He gave a good talk on knowing that God hears our prayers. On Sunday night we went to First Dam with Alisa and threw a frisby (sp?) around. She made this amazingly awesome wheat banana bread and let us have some. It's been awesome to have her live so close to us.

Yesterday our ward needed people to go help at the Ogden Cannery to can some green beans that were ready to go bad, so Cody and Lisa watched Shayden for a while so I could go and help. It seems that service never really comes too conveniently, and I felt blessed to have the opportunity to serve. I was also with some awesome women from the ward on the way down and then back up. It was interesting on the way home when we started talking about public and private schools and home schooling for kids. One of the girls had been home schooled her whole life and felt that it was the best thing for her. Another one of the sisters was pro private/charter school and pro Referendum 1 and I was VERY anti Ref. 1. Wow, political debate within a ward can get heated I guess. I didn't really state why I felt the way I did, I just said I was very against it and that a lot of my family taught public school. She just explained that she thinks kids have too much pressure in public schools and don't do as well; that parental involvement isn't what it needs to be and would be better if they put their kids in private schools. She said she was pro Ref. 1 because it let's parents know they have options instead of just having to do public school. Just to condense what I feel about the issue to get it off my chest:

*Public schools are what's best for the majority of kids. There are few exceptions of kids that need a little extra help or are way far ahead of the rest. I'm guessing the percentage of parental involvement in private and public schools is about the same.

*Positive propaganda for Ref. 1 says it will not hurt public schools, but it will because public schools receive funding according to how many students attend. Funding for public schools will go down if more students go to private schools.

*When this issue was being considered for Utah, there were 11 states using this scholarship for private schools. The majority of those were trying to get out of it and are unable to.

*Most of all, I feel it puts money into wrong hands. Private schools can do whatever they want without the checks and balance system built into public schools. If the hiring board of a private school cannot find someone to teach chemistry, they can hire any person they deem worthy. Good teachers are hard to come by.

In summary I feel like Ref. 1 would be good if and only if honest and good people ran things. This isn't the case all the time. It was very confusing during the time this was being considered because there was so much positive propaganda on both sides. Okay...I'm going to get off my soap box.

On a happier note, here are a few pictures.


This is another picture of Shayden at the ranch wearing Alisa's glasses
I love this picture! We had Chicken enchiladas that first night we were in Panguitch and Shayden was super hungry while we were waiting, so Paul being an awesome dad, got her a plate ready. It looks like he's being all lonely here though, eating with nobody else.


Here is Shayden at the hospital watching the fish. She always somehow loses her shoe. Sheeb, that's so good to hear your going home soon!!! I laughed at your care page update the other day where that doctor woke you up right after you fell asleep. It wasn't funny, because I would be so mad too, but your attitude is just amazing. Even when you get no sleep and all these things are going on, you still are happy. You're just so awesome! You know exactly what's right, and you stand up for it. Parker is lucky to have you for a mom.



This is Alis, Shay and I at First Dam on Sunday.
Shayden's pulling a funny face sitting on Dad's lap.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Growing Shay

Shayden is learning so much. She usually copies when you say a sound or stick your tongue out, but she wouldn't in the video. She copies when you say da da or ma ma. She also loves to put on and wear a leigh (sp?) around the house. She's so stinkin' cute!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Oakcrest '04 Staff Picture

This is a picture of a lot of the Staff of '04...the ones that came to the Oakcrest Reunion on Friday. I didn't get to see Paisley or Belle or talk to a few of the others that were there. Hardy or Feliz isn't in the picture; they were there too. That summer was one of the most amazing of my life. I feel like I learned so much about how the spirit teaches and how I can be an instrument if I strive to keep the commandments and do the will of the Lord. The church is true!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Just an update

I don't have any pictures from the past few days, but I wanted to post to let people know what's going on.

We just got back from Paul's drill last night pretty tired from a full weekend. Paul worked really hard in Dugway building a structure for these dumpsters...lots of work. He dropped me off at Oakcrest on Friday night for a big reunion they had. It was good to be around so many awesome people and in such an amazing place, but Shayden and I were super tired. We caught a ride home with Dory and spent some time with family on Saturday. I was able to see Lynette and Jon and talked them into giving me and Shayden lunch and give a place for Shay to take a nap. Those guys are so cool to let me hang out. Thank you! Gerick is such a cute little man walking around.

I also had Paul and my 5-year high school reunion on Saturday. Blast for the past! That was fun to see all these people from high school. 5 years isn't really that long, but it's long enough. It was sad that Paul had to miss it.

Life is great! I'd better go make Paul some lunch.

Monday, July 7, 2008

More pics

Here are some more pictures from the past few days.

We had hamburgers on the 4th for dinner. They were huge!


That trip to Panguitch from Logan was pretty far. We switched off drivers and tried to sleep. Ha. I think this picture is funny.
For lunch we stopped and had some pretty dry sandwiches. Trisa fed us too when we finally got to Beaver.
I call this picture "Drinking my sippy cup at the temple." This is when we were waiting for Paul at the Salt Lake temple at Steph's wedding. I forgot my recommend in Logan so I couldn't go in.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

4th of July Madness

Here are some pictures from our 4th of July Celebrations.

Alisa and I took Shayden to the Hyrum parade on Friday. We missed the first part which was where Teri was. Sad day. The rest of the parade was good though. Yay for candy! Shayden was so cute. When she saw this piece of candy she gasped and went to go get it.
She also liked to run out into the parade so I had to stop her a few times. The girl in the red sleeves next to us was so awesome. She would give Shayden candy every now and then smiling all cute.
Every 4th our ward has a huge breakfast done through scouting. It was yummy! Cody went to help early in the morning; Paul had to work that morning so we just went over to partake of the good food.
Mmmmmm....
We went to the Logan Fireworks on the 3rd with Cody, Lisa, Lee, Alisa, Jaime and Teri. Lisa made this amazing red, white and blue cake goodness. She's got this amazing touch with food. AND she made an amazing steak dinner before. Thank you Lisa! In this picture Shayden was so tired. She fell asleep about half way through the fireworks.

Before it got too dark we did some fireworks in front of our apartment with the missionaries. They live above us and we just invited them to come and watch. Don't worry...we were safe even though it looks like I'm trying to give a sparkler to a one-year-old.