big girl

See that underwear peeking out? Yep, my girl is potty trained and I am a happy mom. About a month or so ago she just decided it was time. So she potty trained herself. Seriously. She just started wearing underwear and never looked back. The thing is, you can't tell this girl what to do. It's got to be her idea.

Good Books

I love when I read a good book and it gets me in reading mode. And then I read another good book and as soon as I finish it I can't wait to find my next good read. I've been in a serious reading kick lately thanks to some good books. If you are looking for a good book, here are a few recommendations.
First is Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It's a series of five books. They are similar to Harry Potter (but not quite that good!). They are quick, fun, easy reads. My 10 year old nephew was reading them at the same time as me and he loved them. I thought the first one was a little predictable, but they got better. I think book 5 was my favorite.

I think I might be the last person on earth to read the Hunger Games. I heard about it from so many people. And like everyone else, I loved it! It can be a little disturbing, but it's one of those books that just grabs you and you can't put it down. I also read the second book, Catching Fire, but I didn't like it as much as the first.

And finally, another book that was recommended to me by a lot of people, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. This was another quick read that I just loved. It touches some on World War 2, which always interests me, but in a very fun, lighthearted way. This book made me want to write. Letters, journal, whatever, just write. It's all written in letters. It made me sad that the days of writing letters have passed.

Happy Reading!

Love for Autumn

One of my favorite things about living in SLC is the fact that we have four distinct seasons. The fact that each season doesn't last too long makes me appreciate them more. Although spring and fall always go way too fast. So before the snow comes here are some of the best things about fall:

1. Utah Football. Far and away the best thing about this time of year.
2. College football in general. Definitely my favorite sport to watch.
3. Autumn leaves. We took a Sunday afternoon drive a month or so ago and the colors were ridiculous. I posted a few pics from that day below.
4. Going to the park when it's not so blasted hot.
5. The zoo. Some of our all-time best zoo days are in the fall. It's not as hot, it's not crowded, and the animals seem more lively.
6. Sports. This time of year is great for sports. Besides football, basketball is getting started, baseball is actually interesting (this is the only time of year I watch it), even MLS soccer is still going on.
7. Halloween. I've never been a huge fan of Halloween, but it made my list because my kids are so dang excited. Halloween is way more fun now that I have kids.
8. Apples from Grandpa's tree, and Grandma's homemade applesauce.
9. Kids fall rec soccer. It's classic.
10. Did I already mention Utah Football?

The Big Apple

Blair was going to New York for work a couple weeks ago, so I decided to tag along. And of course that means Weston got to tag along as well. I hadn't been to NYC since I was in junior high, so it pretty much felt like going for the first time. I loved it! There is so much to see and do. Nate and Dani came up from DC for a few days. It was awesome to hang out with them.

A few random thoughts and observations:
1. There are a lot of people in Manhattan.
2. There are a lot of buildings in Manhattan. Seriously, it blows me away how much is packed on to that island.
3. New York has very good pizza and very good cheesecake.
4. Visiting Ground Zero was very sobering. The memorial museum moved me to tears. It was interesting to go there with Nate and hear about his experiences in NYC on 9/11.
5. A lot of movies have been filmed in NYC. Now I want to go watch all of them.
6. I ate way too much (see #3 above).
7. Central Park is huge. I mean, I knew it was big, but being there was different. It is amazing how you can be on the noisy, busy, crowded streets of New York and then you walk into the park and you are in this beautiful, green, peaceful place. Awesome.
8. We walked a lot, which is a good thing considering how much we ate.

Weston update

I realized I haven't posted many pictures of Weston. He's growing up so fast. So here's Blair and Weston hanging out in Central Park last week.

Oregon

Fro, Weston and I headed up to Oregon last weekend to see the Utes play and have a little fun. Although the Utes were less-then-impressive, we still had a great time. We spent some time exploring the Columbia River Gorge - saw some awesome waterfalls and beautiful scenery. I can't believe how green it is up there! Weston was a trooper. He must be a true Ute because he was good the entire game despite the noise (that stadium was so loud!) and getting rained on most of the game.

create

This inspires me.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Ok, so there weren't any lions or tigers, but this is what was wandering around the cabin this weekend:

We had just set up the tent for Blair and the kids to sleep out and we were all just playing around outside when we spotted this bear in the neighbors yard. It hung around all weekend, despite the Summit County bloodhounds that tried to scare it up the mountain. Of course, I had to get some pictures to document the excitement. It was pretty cool to see, but scary too! I'm just glad we saw him before I let my kids sleep out in the tent.

skirts, skirts, skirts

I've been on a sewing kick lately (if you can call making three things a "sewing kick"). I made two skirts and a pair of pants for Jane. Don't worry, they were all very easy. I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to sewing. My mom also made a very cute skirt for Jane this summer, so I thought I'd show that one off too. Here they are:

First, the apron skirt. Jane was obviously really happy about posing for this shot.


Next we have the twirly skirt.


Here's the panel skirt from Grandma.


And last but not least the bella pants. They kind of turned out looking like clown pants, which was not what I had intended. But luckily Jane makes anything look cute.

one broken leg

Yea! Jane got her cast off last week. I'm not sure who's more excited, Jane or me. One Sunday evening in June she was jumping off grandma's couch (which she has done a million times) and I guess just landed funny on her leg. Although Dr. Grandpa insisted that it wasn't broken, a trip to the ER proved otherwise. Her leg was in a cast most of the summer, but it didn't slow her down too much. Bless the good soul that invented the waterproof cast.

This is Jane the night she broke her leg. She loved the green bear they gave her at the ER.


Here she is with her HUGE purple cast!


Thankfully they switched it to a shorter one after several weeks.

Mexico

Yes, despite the swine flu, increased violence at the border, and a weak economy, we decided to venture down to Mexico last week. We drove, which was a first for us. Honestly, it wasn't a bad drive (especially since I only drove home.) Weston was sick so at the last minute I decided to fly to San Diego with him and Blair drove with Eli and Jane. We rented an awesome beach house on a beach called Playa La Mision, about halfway between Rosarito and Ensenada. We mostly just hung out at the beach. Oh, and of course we ate a few tacos.

My Job

Last night Jane was in the laundry room with Blair and told him, "this is mommy's office."


Uhhh...I don't think so Jane.

Weston

Weston Roy Allen
May 25, 2009
7lbs 10oz
20 inches

Family of five!

Jane

I really love this girl. I also really like my new lens (thanks Blair)!

the joys of being 38 weeks pregnant...

1. getting up to pee several times a night
2. doing a 20-point turn just to roll over in bed
3. maternity shirts not quite fitting over the belly anymore
4. my 4-year old telling me my "big, fat belly" is in his way
5. spilling food on my shirt EVERY SINGLE DAY
6. getting told by strangers in the grocery store, "Wow! You must be due any day now."
7. serious lack of bladder control
8. the list goes on and on...

You gotta love it! I'm telling you though, he's still easier to take care of inside the belly...

Whose kids are these anyway?

My kids are such ragamuffins. They insist on wearing the wierdest things sometimes. Especially Jane. Lately she is so into getting herself dressed and changing her clothes a million times a day. One day last week she put on all her snow clothes. Then a while later she came out of her room wearing this:

But hey, I'm a little confused about the weather these days too.

LIVE RICH Weekend

Our second annual LIVE RICH weekend was a huge success. We had a fun party with family and friends friday night and then the race saturday morning. I was so proud of all of the LIVE RICH team members who competed. We had people running in honor of Rich in the marathon, half-marathon, 5K, bike race, and kid's race. It is amazing to me the way Rich continues to inspire. I was grateful for the chance to honor and remember Rich this weekend.

There was an article in saturday's paper about a nurse that took care of Rich at Huntsman. It's pretty sweet. Check it out:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705298139,00.html

I'm back

So after a few months hiatus from blogging, I've decided it's time to jump back in again. I know, I know, don't get too excited.

These cute kiddos are getting married in May and I'm pumped. Dani is one awesome girl and I am so happy to have her in the fam. I just really can't believe that "tiny Nate," as we used to call him, is getting married.

Books of 2008

As I sat here pondering the past year and thinking of the year to come (because that's what you're supposed to do on New Year's, right?), I was trying to remember all the books I read in 2008. I read some good ones and some not so good ones. So here is my list (at least as many as I could remember) in no particular order (I starred my favorites):

*These is My Words by Nancy Turner
Sara's Quilt by Nancy Turner
*The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Great and Terrible series (except I haven't read the last one yet) by Chris Stewart
Escape by Carolyn Jessop
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Message by Lance Richardson
Blindside by Michael Lewis
*A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

Does anyone have any suggestions for good books to read in 2009?