Mini Me

People often say that Carolyn is my twin.  I usually do not think she looks that much like me, but perhaps there is a stronger resemblance than I thought.  It is in the eyes.

Duck Face

Can you do this?

I am not sure why or how Elizabeth taught herself how to do this one, but it is kind of her "thing" right now.

To see it, you just have to say, "Elizabeth, show us your duck face!"

Dad is gone for three weeks! Grandma Lynn came to visit!

Steve had to travel to two international mine sites this year.  He decided to combine the trips into one single trip, which made for a very long and detailed itinerary that literally took him around the world.  I will update the blog with some details and pictures, if he has any, when he gets back.

In the meantime, here are some photos from my mom's recent visit to SLC.  She came out while Steve was gone.

We spent the day at Red Butte Gardens.  Notice that Carolyn and Grandma were dressed alike.

We went out for an Indian feast.  RJ (my neighbor) has just returned home from a trip to India to see her family.  She brought both Elizabeth and Carolyn beautiful Indian outfits.  We celebrated her return with a trip to an indian restaurant where the girls were perhaps overdressed for the occasion.  At RJ's request, my mom and I tried to dress in Indian clothing as well, but the pants were not flattering and if I ate a morsel of rice, I would have busted out of the dress.  Instead, I opted to wear the jewelry and shoes that RJ brought me, and my mom wore a scarf that RJ brought from another trip.

We went to the farm where Carolyn rode a pony and fed a goat. 

We visited the witches at Gardner Village.

We did crafts and made a Cleopatra halloween costume for Carolyn. Pictures of Carolyn are coming soon, but for now, here is one of my mom as we were making the costume.

I am so happy my mom was able to come and visit with us.  Thankfully no one was sick, so I did not NEED her to help juggle all of our schedules as a single mom! But, more importantly, we just really ENJOYED having her here.  

And, soon, Steve should be home again.

Leo

DSCN8061
Originally uploaded by boo4172002

He is an old man. He has a hard time getting around, but he still looks pretty good in this picture.

Great Granny

Look at this great photo that I found from this summer.... how fortunate are we that our girls have a great grandma?

We love you, granny!

Days of our Lives

The blog has not been updated for a while.  I have no real excuse, other than to say that I never seem to have enough time. I rarely have time to myself. My house is not as clean as it should be. I do not get to work out as much as I would like ... you know, I am a mom of two young girls; I work full time; and I have a hard time saying no to helping out at school or other community organizations.  So, it seems, that instead of weekly posts, the blog has been become more on a monthly cycle. Maybe someday I will get the hang of juggling everything, or maybe someday you can just be surprised when I finally get around to updating this site.  Today, you are lucky!  Here is a post that captures what has been happening in our part of the world lately.

THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

Carolyn started K. She is still at the same school that she has been to the past two years (Montessori Community School), so there was not too much of a change, but that does not mean that she was not excited (and a bit nervous) for the new responsibilities that come with being a kindergartener.

ROCK CLIMBING

At the end of the summer, Carolyn took a rock climbing camp.  I think she may have a future in the sport.  She is a spider.




STATE FAIR
End of summer also brings fair season -- complete with the giant slide, cotton candy, and butter sculptures.

CONSTRUCTION

Of course, much of our summer (or at least Steve's) has been filled with building a house in our backyard.  Here is the progress to date.  He is currently on a long trip to the Congo and Indonesia, but when he gets back in early October it is time to install windows and siding.  Then we will move on to the inside.  It is a big project, and we have made plenty of mistakes, but it has been fun. 

MOVIES at the CAPITAL

Throughout the summer, parks show outdoor movies.  One particular evening, it was supposed to rain, so instead of cancelling it, they pulled the movie inside where we set up blankets and chairs in the rotunda of the State Capital building.

 

FESTIVALS & FACE PAINTING

There were lots of street festivals to end the summer.  Face painting is still a treat for Carolyn.

SWIMMING

Once Carolyn was given the OK to go swimming from her docs (after making sure that she was no longer having reflux into the kidneys), she spent a lot of time in the water.  I still do not trust her to be too far away from me in deep water, but she can tread water for about 20 seconds, so that is progress.

THE HORSES AT GRANDMA and GRANDPA's

Before we left Grandpa Harry and Grandma Carol's house this summer, Carolyn insisted that we introduce Elizabeth to the horses in the basement.

CAROLYN'S NEW HAIRCUT

She wanted bangs.  We got them cut right before school started.  Afterwards, she kept asking if people would recognize her.

HIKING

I wish we got into the mountains more often than we did because I love it when we do.  Here is Carolyn hiking with a friend. I promise that I stooped down really low to get a good angle of the pictures of her climbing on the rocks.  The rock was not nearly as steep or vertical as it looks in the picture.  Whatever the case, Carolyn loves climbing.

SILENT MOVIES

One evening this summer, we went to a silent movie complete with a pipe organ.  It is in an old house in the middle of town.  A legitimate pipe organ that takes up the entire house. Carolyn was pretty enthralled.

FRIENDS at the ZOO

Some photos of Carolyn and her friends Zoe and Ella at the zoo.

FIRE HOSE FUN & BEE STINGS

The firemen came to a local park with their truck and hoses.  In a giant field, they sprayed the hoses, while the kids ran through the sprinklers.  Carolyn (as were most kids) was barefoot, and she stepped on a bee.  It was her first bee sting.

ELIZABETH

Lizzie was more than likely with us at all of these end-of-summer events, but she is pretty mellow and just goes with the flow, so I guess I do not turn the camera on her as much.  I will have to do a photo shoot with her sooner or later so we can capture her funny faces and antics on film.  

By the way, that was the first time I have ever written "Lizzie" .... We all call her Liz and Lizzie a lot, but I have never written it.  Hmmm....is this the start of the official nickname?