Park City

We spent last week in Park City and had a fabulous time! Our friends Amber, John, and Jaxon came up with us for the weekend, and then Kissie and Pata met up with us for the weekdays. Shad and Jen even came up for a day! It was great to relax and play, and spend very little time traveling to our vacation spot. We were lucky to only have a day or so of rainy weather, and we got to do a lot of the activities on our wishlist.

The week started off a little rocky with Cora throwing up big-time on the way there. Of course, Kevin wasn't in the car with us (he met us there from work), so it was all me on wet-wipe cleanup duty. I think she was actually carsick--poor girl. Hurray for leather seats though.

Cora and Jaxon had an especially good time playing together-- they are such good little friends. We spent our weekend with the Adams swimming, walking Main Street, shopping, watching the BYU game (Kevin was estactic, because it was on a channel we don't get at home-- good timing for a vacation, eh? And a fun game to watch), a yummy Mexican dinner, the first of Cora's many carousel rides for the week, talking, running after kids...
Sunday and Monday it was just our little family. We went to church, took a walk on one of Park City's many walking paths, found a great little playground, watched a movie, shopped, swam, and Kevin worked from the hotel for most of Monday. Cora really got to branch out on the playground-- they had some equipment she hadn't seen before. She even held on for the entire ride on their little zipline-like cruiser thing, of course, with Kevin spotting her the whole way. It's fun to see her do so many new things.

Kissie and Pata came Monday late afternoon. First order of business-- SWIM! I think we swam once, if not twice, everyday, except Sunday of course. Even with it cool outside, the pool was heated to a comfy 90 degrees. With Kissie and Pata around, Cora became even more comfortable in the pool. She started swimming (with her waterwings) by herself! Legs stretched out and kicking and everything! She jumped off the side or the rock and swam to Kissie and Pata. She also enjoyed sitting in the cooler hottub, playing in the shallow end and by the stairs, and climbed up the ladder out of the pool by herself. Wow Cora!

We spent the afternoons on Tuesday and Thursday at the Park City resort. We rode the Alpine Slide, the Alpine Coaster, and the zipline. My favorite was the coaster, it seemed too short, but o-so-much fun! Cora enjoyed the Alpine slide, she got to ride it 3 times (passengers are cheap) but I think she was even more excited about the kiddie rides. She just loved the little airplane ride, and especially the carousel. It was hard to get smiley pictures of her on the rides though, she was so intent and concentrated on the experience of it all. Though she did keep repeating "This is fun!". It was a good way to keep her occupied while the adults traded off riding the rides.

Other highlights.... We were also lucky that our bike-riding day was a nice sunny day. We found some cool bike paths, and more places to explore with bikes for next time. Park City really is a beautiful place! I got some fall shopping done for Kevin, the girls, and I. We spent an hour or so at the Olympic Park in awe watching the skiiers practice their jumps and landing in a pool. And, we found a great farmers market that was so fun too. Lots of yummy samples and interesting items to peruse. We got to do so many fun things in a pretty place with such a short car ride, we're tempted to go back to Park City next year!





We've had such a fun crazy summer. We've loved seeing all our family members and having great times together. We are excited though to let our suitcases have a little rest for a few months... we aren't leaving town until Thanksgiving!

Help Protect Marriage

The following post is taken from my friend Becky's blog. I only had a vague understanding of the proposition in California, so I thought this was helpful information. Living in Utah, this doesn't affect us directly right now, but I believe the outcome of this proposition will set an example either way for the whole nation.
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I'd like to post about something that is very important to us and that we've been involved in since moving to California. Please excuse us for having to get political on our blog, but I hope you'll take a sec and read this.

In the year 2000 Proposition 22 was passed by 61% of the people of California to state that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." This summer four judges on the California Supreme Court overturned this by a close 4-3 vote. This November will be our one and only chance to overturn that decision by a popular vote at the elections.

A yes vote on PROPOSITION 8 will amend our state constitution to restore traditional marriage in California. Joseph and I have been helping in our area by making phone calls and will also be canvasing areas to get the word out about Proposition 8. As of right now our side is losing in the polls. WE NEED HELP! Please, even if you are not a Californian you can help, since this will ultimately affect everyone. ProtectMarriage.com (go here to find out more on the issue) needs financial assistance so we can make commercials, fliers, signs, and buy TV and radio spots. It is not a cheap endeavor and we need help. Those who are fighting against us just received 1.2 million dollars from the ACLU, and have the backing of major companies. They are fighting hard and we need to fight back! WE MUST PROTECT MARRIAGE! There are so many consequences to this and we need to protect marriage between a man and a woman. Here are a few facts to dispel myths that the opposition is spreading:

1: Prop. 8 is About Preserving Marriage; It’s Not an Attack on the Gay
Lifestyle. Proposition 8 doesn’t take away any rights or benefits from gays or
lesbians in domestic partnerships. Under California law, “domestic partners
shall have the same rights, protections and benefits” as married spouses.
(Family Code §297.5.) There are no exceptions. Proposition 8 will not change
this.

2: Prop. 8 does not enshrine discrimination in our Constitution.

3: The legal meaning of marriage is up to the people to decide, not four judges.

4: The narrow decision of the State Supreme Court effectively renders all civil marriage meaningless and will result in tremendous confusion for children. The state Education Code (§51890) requires that teachers instruct children as young as kindergarteners about marriage. If the gay marriage ruling becomes permanent, teachers will have little choice but to teach young children there is no difference between gay marriage and traditional marriage.

That last one is the scariest to me. If you're thinking to yourself "Who cares what they do? Let them get married, it won't affect me", you're very wrong. It will effect our children in schools (even kindergarteners!) in a devastating way. And what happens here will set a precedent for the rest of the country, so it will eventually reach your states as well.

We ask if you have the means and would like to fight for a good cause to go to this site and donate! We will be blessed in our endeavors. Thank you. Also, if you feel so inclined, please copy this onto your blog as we need to spread the word! *I Want To Donate*

She's a Sitter!

Violet has been getting more and more steady sitting up, and I think we can officially call her a sitter now! She still falls over occasionally, like when reaching for a toy, but she's pretty steady. She's still rocking back and forth on her hands and knees, and scootches around the room slowly with her commando crawl. It's almost time to put up the baby gate!

Idaho Trip

We did a whirlwind trip to Idaho last weekend. We saw so many people and had so much fun, and we were so tired when we got home! It was nice to get home Sunday night so we had the holiday Monday to get settled back in.

First off, the girls and I picked Kevin up from work at noon. We stopped in Layton to feed Violet and have lunch at Mimi's Cafe (they have a great birthday special too!). Then we were off to Twin Falls. Luckily both of the girls did well in the car with minimal crying. We met up with Kevin's parents and went out to dinner for his birthday. We had a lot of fun seeing family and hanging out at Alicia and Roger's beautiful wedding reception in Jerome. Cora especially loved having her own candy favor box (except the Hot Tamales were a surprise!), eating blueberries, and seeing the cows in the corrals next to the backyard.

Saturday morning we stopped by my cousin's house to meet her husband and wish her well with her new baby coming sometime in the next week or so. We also took Cora out to a nearby playground to let her run off some energy. A two year old boy was also there, and they had so much fun playing together. They must have gone down the slides 30 times! Then Cora struggled through the wedding luncheon, and we hung out at the mall before the sealing. Kevin's sister and cousins were nice enough to watch the girls so Kevin and I could attend. It was neat to be in the Twin Falls temple, it's so new! The sealer reminded us that the prophet was there just last week for the dedication. Congratulations Alicia and Roger!
After the wedding we headed to Blackfoot to see my grandparents--both sets! We spent Saturday night and Sunday morning with my mom's parents. We ate fresh corn on the cob, visited my aunt, learned how to fillet fish, and just enjoyed talking with my grandparents. Cora watched Grandpa Ellis fillet the fish too, and kept saying that the fish was broken. She especially loved one of the new toys Grandpa had made. She played with it for over an hour, I was amazed. I don't think there has been any other single toy that has captured her attention for such a long period of time. Cora also loved chasing the cat, watching Grandpa feed corn cobs to the bulls, and jumping on the trampoline. It was the first time my grandparents had met Violet, so that was especially nice. And I came home with a new cake and a new casserole recipe, yummy!


After church we headed over to my dad's parents' house and spent the afternoon there. We got to see their house remodeling project, eat a yummy dinner, catch-up on how all the family is doing, and watch a huge storm pass through. It was Cora's first time hearing (noticing) thunder, and I think it startled her! I got another yummy zucchini recipe from the Grandpa-- I can't wait to have zucchini in our garden next year! I have so many plans for it!
The girls were troopers through the whole weekend. Other than not sleeping too well at night, they were perfect travelers and Kevin and I felt pretty lucky that they lasted so long. We left Blackfoot at 7:30pm and headed home. Good thing it's not too much of a drive. We drove through some heavy rain, but not the high winds that we had seen earlier. The girls slept all the way home after Violet cried for only about 20 minutes. They also slept in this morning and took long naps, I think they are catching up. I've been wanting to visit my grandparents all year, so I'm so happy it worked out to go, even if it was a short trip. That just means we'll have to go again soon I guess!

30 x 2

Thursday I turned 30! Oh my how time flies. We've been so busy lately that what I wanted to do most for my birthday was NOTHING. And we did! We all (well, the girls and I) stayed in our pajamas most of the day and relaxed. We had easy, little clean-up meals, I got to exercise, and we even all took an afternoon nap at the same time--very rare! That was a great birthday treat in itself. Some friends came by with well-wishes and I got several happy birthday calls and emails. Kevin brought home Krispie Kreme donuts instead of me making a cake. It was a great birthday!
Wednesday I finally cut off all my hair. I had been wanting to for a few weeks! I cut off 10 inches so that I could donate it to Locks of Love, so it's rather short now, but it's a nice change.

Friday Kevin turned 30 too! We went out to dinner for his birthday with his family in Twin Falls. It was a busy birthday day with the driving and wedding festivities, but a nice day overall. We'll celebrate our birthdays a little more in Park City next week, maybe even make our favorite German Chocolate cake.

Oh, and we went out to Coldstone for our birthdays earlier in the week. Are you signed up for Coldstone's birthday club? If not, you should! A free icecream on your birthday! Check out their website to join.

Family Update

We've been keeping busy here, but unfortunately not taking very many pictures. Here's a little of what we've been up to.

~Education week. We only did a day, but it was so neat. We drove to Provo Monday night, had our family pictures taken (I'll have to post them later when I get the cd), and stayed the night in the same hotel my parents were at for the week (with DT gone, they don't have on campus couples housing anymore). We ate at the Brick Oven and Kevin and Cora swam in the pool. Kevin and I attended classes the next day, switching off with Mom and Dad watching the girls. The classes I attended were great, and on my off hours, the girls and I visited friends in Tanner building, got a mint brownie, played on the grass, saw the new Joseph Fielding Smith building, and visited the Bean Museum. We also stopped by and saw Kurt and Jen in their new apartment on the way home. It was quite the busy day! But we loved it. Next year we hope to go for a couple of days, and maybe even leave the girls at home.

~ We've been having some periods of cooler weather, which has been great! We got to go on a few walks and feed the ducks in the pleasant weather. Today is supposed to be hot, but the rest of the week is supposed to be nice and cool. Hurray!

~One of our ward Enrichment groups is a FHE packet exchange. We got together and exchanged packets for the first time, and I was so impressed with the great lessons we got in return! It's always nice to have new, pre-planned FHE ideas.

~We didn't do a full-out garden this year, but we sure have enjoyed growing a few things in our patio pots. The squash didn't work, I was so sad, we only got blossoms, no fruit. But we've been getting good tomatoes and lots of basil. Mmm. We did pesto last week and it was delicious.

~The girls and I went to Wheeler Farm and saw all the animals and took a 'wagon' ride. Wheeler Farm is a free, working farm that is part of the Salt Lake County parks system. Cora liked seeing all the animals. I had never been before, and I thought it was pretty neat. Except the wagon ride-- 15 minutes of riding behind the fumes of a farm vehicle being pulled around. Oh well.

~We visited the Children's Museum with Kerri and Cole, which is always fun. We are getting good use out of our passes! Cora still loves it and it's fun to go with friends, I think we'll probably get a pass next year too.~Violet and I took a quick trip to Boise last weekend to see my friend Selina's wedding. Violet has had such a terrible time riding in the car lately, we did early drives both ways. We left at 4:30 am on Thursday to go to Boise and at 5:00am Saturday to return to Utah. It worked! She slept most all of the way there and back, much less stressful for the both of us. I'm still not all the way caught up on sleep, but it was worth it. Cora stayed and played with Cole on Thursday and Brinley and Lincoln on Friday. She had much more fun playing with friends than she would have in the car and at the wedding functions. Thanks so much Timmerie and Kerri! Selina's wedding was beautiful, and it was fun to spend time with friends I haven't seen in quite a while.

First Bites

Violet tried rice cereal for the first time on Saturday. Here she is getting ready for the big event......Focus, focus.....



...it was a success! It'll take her a little while to figure out how to swallow better, but I think she liked the new taste. Cora didn't though! You can hear her in the video saying "Cora cereal too!". So I gave her a bite, and she got the funniest look on her face, like she knew she'd get in trouble if she spit it out but she didn't want to swallow it either. We couldn't get the camera fast enough! Cora got it down, and refused any other bite offers. It was pretty funny.

Cora's August Loves

~Watering the flowers. She gets her play cups out of the playhouse and fills them up and helps me water. She also loves spooning the dirt out of the growboxes onto the patio... so we're working on that one.

~Balloons. This week she was much more interested in trying to blow them up than actually playing with them. Amazingly, she didn't get frustrated when they all remained pretty flat. We took turns blowing them up, Cora said, "Cora blow", "Mamma blow" so I always knew when it was my turn! We've also been playing with sidewalk chalk and working on catching and throwing balls.

~Cora is full-out speaking now, talking in sentences and mimicking pretty much everything we say. She much better at communicating her needs and wants (more George, more George, please!). One of her favorites is "Come on Daddy" to get Kevin to follow her. Another is "Cora too" for anything she sees us doing that she wants to do as well. It's pretty cute to hear her try out all kinds of big words too. When we read the Book of Mormon at night (just 5 verses a night) we pause to let her repeat a few words each verse. It helps hold her attention just a little bit.

~Cora is really into praying right now. If Kevin or I says the prayer, afterwards, she says "Cora's turn" and says one of her own. Sometimes she prays multiple times for each meal! This is a nice change from her running around during our prayers.

~Princess movies. We watched my neighbor's three girls while they went to the temple, and I knew they liked princesses, so all of the kids watched Cinderella together. I didn't think Cora would like it that much because it's kind of long, and really only very princessy at the end. But she was asking for it the next day! "Come on momma, princess movie please!" I looked and realized that is the only princess movie we have. Hmm. Maybe we'll have to take a trip to the library and get some.

~Chocolate chips. I was talking on the phone and caught Cora in the pantry out of the corner of my eye. She was grabbing a handful of chocolate chips out of the big Costco-size bag! She looked delighted. I wonder if that had been going on for long??? The chocolate chips now have a new home on the shelves.

~Cora has been doing well at using the potty. She pees in the potty a couple of times a day. We'll do full-out potty training in a couple of weeks after our last trip, but it's nice she's having a positive experience now! Hopefully it will go quickly. I did buy some princess panties that should help the transition.

Violet's Update

Violet can now tripod-- she's a sitter! Not for too long of period of time, but she loves being able to see what Cora is up to and have a better lookout on the world. She is also loving her exersaucer.... so am I, it's a good place to put her where I know she'll be safe and entertained while I fix dinner... and read email. She likes looking in the mirror and pressing the buttons to hear the songs.


Violet loves to be on her tummy. If we put her on her back, she usually rolls over right away, again I think it's because she likes the view. She loves to watch Cora run around. Violet is getting stronger and can push her body off the floor so she's on her hands and feet-- the plank. She also gets up on her hands and knees and rocks, rocks, rocks. The video is a couple of weeks old, now she'll do it much steadier for much longer periods of time. She wants to crawl so bad! So she pushes and face plants. I'm sure she'll get it together soon enough!

Violet is getting much better at her hand-eye coordination. she can grab most things in front of her on her first try. And anything she grabs goes straight into her mouth. She'd much rather chew on somebody else's fingers rather than her own, so you better watch out! Those bottom teeth are pretty big and sharp!

Violet took her first bath in the big bathtub last week. She was just getting way to big for the baby tub. I think Cora and Violet liked sharing a bath.

Fix It Mamma!

Friday morning I decided to experiment and see just what Cora would do without her binkie. I was definitely ready to see it go! But I was a little worried doing it with being in the middle of a busy summer. So I cut it like this and left it out on the counter. Cora found it later and was confused. She asked what happened and I told her the binkie was broken. She said, "Fix it mamma, fix it!" I told her I couldn't I couldn't do that. When Kevin got home she asked him too, and when he said he couldn't, she wanted him to cut it off all the way, like this.
And then she threw it in the trash! We've been so surprised, since then, she has only asked for it a few times, and has been calm when we told her it was still broken and reminded her she threw it away. For the week after we did it, she did wake up more at night. I think she's had to relearn how to put herself back to sleep, but it's been a success! Hurray, no binkies in this house!

Trip to Boise

We had a fun trip to Boise! The girls, Shad and Jen, their dogs, and I drove up Wednesday all together. Shad and Jen were a big help with the girls! Unfortunately, Violet still did a lot of crying. But it was a relatively good drive. Cora especially was so excited to see Kissie and Pata! Liz, Emeline, and Jarom flew in a few hours later (Kevin flew in Friday night), and it was great to have lots of time to visit and have the cousins play together. We missed Keyton though! He wasn't able to take time off this time. Here are some pictures of our week. Cora and Eme in their matching princess nightgowns. Thanks Kissie! Violet and Jarom got some pretty cute pj's too.
Cora loved the puppies! They were very patient with her too.

Roaring Springs

On Thursday we went to Roaring Springs, a fun waterpark. I wasn't sure how Cora would do, but she loved it and had so much fun! Mom and Dad reserved a cabana for us all, which was especially helpful to have a set place to hang out for the day. We were there from 11-4, the kids all did amazing! Icecream face!
We made up Violet a little hangout spot in the corner where she could play and sleep. Violet also enjoyed watching the kids swim and sitting in the kiddie pool too.
You can see Shad and I in the center of the picture--the wave pool was pretty fun! Cora enjoyed the wave pool too, but she stayed at the shallow end. She enjoyed running into the waves, in and out, in and out of the beach-entry style pool. She just laughed and laughed when the waves hit her.
Hanging out in the cabana. Cora was a little tired, but too excited to sleep.
Liz, Emeline and Jarom at the kiddie pool. Cora loved going down the big slide that adults could go on too, and even made it down the other two slides twice as well. Another favorite was the lazy river, Cora and I had a lot of fun riding tubes on it. And the adults traded off and took a few turns on the big slides too. They were so fun! The park had some really cool rides.
The only bad part is that Cora had a terrible diaper rash that day, and swim diapers don't help with that. Luckily, it didn't stop her from having fun! Until she collapsed and fell asleep a half hour before we left. She wouldn't even wake up for a hot dog (one of her favorites)!

Park Night

Friday was our hang-out day. We made notecards, the kids swam and played in the bouncy house, the girls went out to do a little shopping. Dad picked Kevin up from the airport and met us for dinner--we took some fried chicken to a park and played. It was a great park-- I can't believe how many really cool parks there are close to my parents' house. This one we hadn't been to before, and it was really fun. It great park equipment, with the ramps that Cora loves to run up and down, climbing rocks, a splash pad, and a music section! Big xylophones, pipes, and drums for the kids to play. Cora had a great time, especially on the swings, which are her favorite.

Lucky Peak

Saturday was our day at the lake. We spent our time wakeboarding, tubing, floating on the fun island, and playing in the sand. The cold water was perfect for the hot temperatures! The first thing Cora did when we got to our section of beach was to throw sand in the water. Somehow, this is so much fun to do!
Cora was an adventurous little girl and got in the water to swim with daddy. She even ducked her head under!
Floating on the fun island with Shad and Pata (it was tied to a tree).
Emeline and Cora loved being in the boat! They kept on saying "This is fun!" over and over. They cheered for the wakeboarders, and after one of the wakeboarders fell, they would say, "try again, try again!". They liked all the bumps and weren't scared at all.
Kevin on the wakeboard.
Shad, Kevin, Cora, and Eme on the tube. Cora didn't like the water splashing on her face, she didn't last long, but Eme had a blast and went multiple times!
Shad and Kevin had some wild rides on the tube! Kevin was pretty sore the next day.
Cora, Jarom, and Liz flagging.
Shad, Jen, Eme, Butterscotch, and Oreo. Kevin asked Shad and Jen who they would save if the tube tipped! I don't think we ever got an answer! :)
Hanging out at the beach. Violet took some good naps here and did pretty well that day too.

New Stats and Weekly Update

We went to the doctor this morning. Cora had her 2 year check-up, and Violet had her 4 month check-up. I was a little worried about combining them, but it worked out nicely. Cora is 34.5 inches tall (70%) and weighs 26 pounds, 10 ounces (48%). Violet weighs 14 pounds (65%) and 26 inches long (98%). Wow! She's a long one! The height predictor on babycenter.com estimates Cora will be 5 ft 6 in at age 18. I bet Violet will be taller than that, so I'm likely destined to be the shortest one in the family.

Both Cora and Violet got a shot, lucky for Violet they had all her immunizations in one shot, which was great. Violet cried for a second, Cora cried for a lot longer, poor girl. Oh well, she shouldn't have to do shots again for a year or two! The doctor said they are both doing well, Cora is talking, counting, and singing her ABC's more than most kids her age, and Violet is rolling over, grabbing objects, and producing teeth earlier than the average kid (the second bottom tooth popped through last weekend!). The doctor said only about 1 percent of babies have teeth at 4 months-- hmm, lucky us!

Here's a few things that we've been up to:

--We finally got our van back, after being rear-ended at a red light. Due to arguing between the insurance company and our body shop, it took 2.5 weeks for the repairs to get done. We had a rental car, but we're so glad to have our car back and fixed up.
--Kevin went to Youth Conference and had a lot of fun. Luckily it was close-by, so he took only one day off work, but spent a lot of time up there before and after work on the other days. And he came home dead-tired, so luckily we had a nice and peaceful Sunday. Cora missed her daddy!
--We went visiting teaching, and I got visit-taught at Coldstone for an early birthday celebration. Yummy! What a great idea, Amber!
--We fed the ducks down by the lake. It's been a while since we've gone; this is Cora's first time when she really 'got' what we were doing. She had a blast! I just found some more bread while cleaning out our freezer, so we'll have to go again this week.
--We visited the Children's Museum with Cora's friend Nolan and my friend, Nolan's mom, Kenzee. The kids had a lot of fun, but I did forget my camera. Violet got tuckered out in the front-pack just watching all the kids run around.
--We went with a group of moms and kids to the county fair. It was smaller than I thought it would be--I've only been to state fairs before, I guess. But the kids had fun at the petting zoo, watching the lamb show, and making hats at the craft table. Cora was so excited to use scissors! They are usually an off-limits tool in our house, but maybe I'll have to find some safety scissors for her to experiment with-- heavily supervised, of course! Cora liked seeing the huge pigs, and at the petting zoo she kept saying she wanted to touch the animals, but when we got close, she always shied away. We're going to another petting zoo for playgroup in a few weeks, so she'll have to try again there!
--I am waiting for Twilight to come in the mail. I pre-ordered from Amazon and I thought it would be here by now!!
I brought my camera to the fair, but didn't have a chance to use it (juggling a front-pack, baby, toddler, stroller, and diaper bag can do that!). Luckily we got a few pics from from friends to help remember our day. At the petting zoo there were rabbits, lots of roosters, goats, sheep, a donkey, a horse, and a ferret. Here are Jaxon and Cora by the goats.