The Flu Bug

24 hours never seemed so long
Gracie threw up 3 times in the night
Millie threw up just once in the morning
Mommy felt completely awful all day long
Daddy didn't feel great, but took care of everyone all day and then got sick in the evening
We got desperate for help when both parents were sick on the couch
We called our Home Teachers
They came right away and cleaned the kitchen
Then Brother Hutchinson gave us all Priesthood blessings
Just what we needed!
A good reminder of how wonderful it is to be healthy, and to have Home Teachers to call

Hiking Elephant Rock

It just doesn't feel like Fall until we get up in the mountains to see the colorful leaves and enjoy the pleasant weather. The girls absolutely loved being up there! We asked ourselves, "Why don't we do this more often?" Simple answer: Life is busy! But we are finding that it sure is richer when we take the time to get out and do new things!

Change in the Air

Paul had a difficult decision this past month when he was offered a new job in the Family History Department at the Church. He has absolutely loved working in the Curriculum department, and He loves his co-workers. It sure is hard to choose between two good things! After a LOT of praying, talking, thinking, & weighing out the differences, he decided to take the new job. Although it's a step of faith, he is excited for the chance to learn new skills and learn from new co-workers. But he will miss his friends so much! They were so nice to have a little good-bye lunch for him, and they didn't mind when Claire and I joined them!

Indian Giver

Gracie colored and painted some beautiful pictures the other morning with Daddy, and agreed to let him take them in to work to give to Marlene (his co-worker who loves and spoils the girls like only a grandma knows how). The second that Paul walked out the door, Gracie made a frown and admitted that she missed her pictures. She quietly went to her room and laid down in her bed, until I found her there to talk about it. She really wanted her pictures back. So we called Daddy and asked him to just show them to Marlene and then bring them back home. Surely Marlene would understand! And she did! She made copies of them and even made special thank-you cards with them. What a fun surprise!

Here are the special pictures:





And here's a fun little picture frame that we found at the craft store. Millie colored it, and when I tried to explain that we put a picture of her in the middle, she went in the other room and drew a picture of her to go in the middle. I guess that works too!

Visit to Grandma Lucy

We finally made it to Fountain Green to see our dear Grandma Lucy. She hadn't met Claire yet, so we were long overdue! We've made it a tradition to sleep over there when we visit. That way, we get way more time with Grandma and the girls aren't worn out by the long drive.

Claire loved being held by Grandma. She was quite content on her lap, since Grandma knew how to keep her entertained with random things near her chair.


The girls re-lived my childhood for me by taking a bath in the old-fashioned tub. Oh the memories I have of that tub! I love it!


The girls sang and danced for Grandma, and rode on her electric chair up the stairs. They found all her candy jars and managed to get way more candy than they should have. The girls slept in the bunk bed room, and we got the special white room. After they fell asleep, we visited with Grandma until midnight! She is doing so remarkably well for her age. She is 94 years old, and still manages to care for herself. Her memory is still intact and she looks as if she could just keep going for many more years to come. She doesn't seem to feel that way, but she knows that ultimately, her life is in the Lord's hands.

I was impressed that at age 94, she sits in a chair most of the day, surrounded by books, magazines, scriptures, family history documents, letters, and a telephone. She is still busily trying to learn and accomplish all that she can while she still has time. It seems that there is even more urgency now than perhaps there was before. She had so much that she wanted to tell us, mostly pertaining to her ancestors in Canada. What a lesson for me! Am I urgently doing the things that will mean the very most when this life is over?

That Fountain Green home is just FULL of memories from my childhood, teenage, and adult life. I have many memories in each room. Since my parents moved so many times while we were growing up, I don't go home to a home full of memories from my childhood. Perhaps this is why I feel like I am "going home" when I visit the home in Fountain Green. I love that place! I'm grateful we can still go there, and so grateful that Grandma is still with us. She is very dear to us!

We Found 'Em!

I have never been happier when finding a pair of shoes to buy! We've searched months for the perfect shoe to replace the infamous "ballet shoes" but only recently came across these beauties:


For those of you unaware of the implicit stipulations for Gracie's shoes, let me inform you:

• comfort, comfort, comfort!
  
• slip on
• not too big or too small (that is the trickiest one with growing feet that are in between sizes most of the time!)
• must work for all occasions because they will be the only shoe she wears (play, church, dancing, work, etc.)
• must be pretty like princess' shoes
• have to take the tag off for her to even be willing to try them on; therefore, have to be able to return with the tag off
  
• and the true test is if she still likes them once we are home, the tag is off, and it's been a few hours or days
  

Oh boy! I was holding my breath with these ones, and I'm SO happy to say that they passed the test! I probably should go back to Wal-mart to get the next size up as well!

Princesses in Training

The girls have discovered a new favorite show called "The Backyardigans" and in one episode Uniqua sings in a very catchy tune, "I love being a princess!" So now these girls sing that phrase over and over as well. And from the things they say and do, I'm fully convinced that they try to live according to princess etiquette and rules.

For example, this morning at 6:30, Grace came to my bed with a very important question: "Mommy, how do princesses cry?" My first response was, "I don't know..." and then I remembered Cinderella's crying scene, so I tried my best to impersonate her. Then Gracie said, "Well, naybe Daddy knows how princesses cry!" Which led to her finding out that Daddy had already left to meetings, which set off her crying, because she had missed seeing him for the morning. I happened to notice that she cried JUST like a princess: quietly, with composure, but real tears streaming down her soft cheeks. I wiped them away and assured her that we would get to see Daddy soon at church. Then she retorted with a little anger in her voice, "But Mommy, we ALWAYS have to go to church!"

A few hours later, during testimony meeting, the girls colored pictures of princesses, and sang, "How do you know...?" (from "Enchanted"). Even though I constantly tried to "shhhh" them, the singing continued, and I had to laugh when I had the thought, "at least they are singing something that has to do with testimony!"

And just for the record, they still insist on wearing skirts everyday, and Millie sleeps in her skirt pajamas every night. In fact, we've turned jumpers into skirts on more than one occasion. So now with almost every dress she wears, Millie puts it on as a very long skirt and begs to be able to change it to a long skirt. If only all their dresses touched the ground like the real princesses!

Harvest Season

Even though I am always sad to see the Summer come to an end, there is something exciting about harvesting from the garden and preparing for the winter. The most exciting part is that it is usually spontaneous and needs to be done that day. Hey, if I can get free or cheap fruit, I'm willing to have a crazy day to get it preserved!


This year, I've made...


Bottled Pears
I bought the pears for 33 cents/lb. by price matching at Wal-mart, so for only $10, I got 16 bottles. Yea!




Chili Sauce
Our tomatoes did well again this year, and Sarah gave me a bunch of hers, so I had to figure out what to do! The thought of bottling salsa again was not exciting, so I took a chance on Richelle's family recipe. It looks like salsa, but it tastes different! I'm excited to have it for crockpot cooking!



Fruit Leather
So far, I've made apricot, strawberry, pear, and apple/nectarine with my mom's dehydrator. I've figured out how to get it thick enough to still be soft and chewy. Millie had the idea to color the strawberry ones, so we had fun experimenting with colors. I had to hold back from making her do it my way, and it turned out to be a good bonding time in the kitchen with her. The girls have come to LOVE eating this! When they ask for a treat, I'll offer them this, so they get real fruit (with some added sugar), and their sweet tooth is perfectly satisfied! There's no way that our stash will last the entire year, but wouldn't it be great if I didn't ever buy fruit snacks again?




Strawberry Freezer Jam
This was another great deal! I got a case of strawberries for $5 and it made a year's worth of jam, plus about 8 trays of fruit leather!



Sun-Dried Tomatoes
This is a sad story! I had two bag-fulls of tomatoes, freshly picked from our garden. My friend, Angela T. helped me cut them and get them all prepped for drying. We got a late start, so when they weren't done drying at night, I just turned off the dehydrator. I didn't want to overd0 them during the night. The next day, I dried them for a few hours before I had to leave for the day. But again, the dehydrator was turned off, and the poor tomatoes sat out all day long. I came hope to a smelly house and 10 trays full of mold and decay. The fruit flies were having a hay-day! I had to throw them all out and do a major cleaning job on the trays. All that work, and NOTHING to show for it! But I'm glad I learned an important lesson: You can't take breaks when dehydrating! Just keep it going until they are done!

New Family Pics

It was definitely time for an updated family picture, so while we were up in Paradise this weekend, we got Mark & Em to do a quick photo shoot out in the field behind the house. Thank goodness for family photographers and beautiful scenery...and candy to bribe the girls with!

Thanks Mark & Em!

Off to Preschool!

Here's a big hug as the girls part ways and begin another fun year of preschool.



Millie will continue to attend Miss Kristi's "Oceans of Learning" Preschool with all her friends from last year. We feel lucky that she gets to go there, and that we get to bring Brooklyn home with us to play with Grace and Claire.



Gracie began a year of Joyschool with some friends in the neighborhood. When it was my week to be the teacher, we studied "change" and learned first-hand with some monarch butterflies that we found as caterpillars a couple weeks earlier.






While the children marveled at the chance to hold a butterfly, I couldn't get over the miracle of it's life. The caterpillar was not meant to be a caterpillar forever; it had the ability within to become something much more beautiful and powerful. I can't help but see how this creation testifies of God and His plan for us to become so much more than we are today. If we focus on who we presently are, it's easy to see our limitations and weaknesses. But if we remember our Heavenly Father's plan and the grace that is offered us through our Savior, Jesus Christ, then we have hope for change, and we can look forward to the day that he will make much more of us than we are now. We shouldn't allow Satan to convince us that we cannot ever overcome our sins or progress. It is in our very "genes" to become someday like our Father in Heaven. Just as we cannot explain exactly how the caterpillar makes the change into the butterfly, we can't comprehend how the resurrection works. But we can trust in Him and His promises to us, and learn great lessons from simple things all around us.