Another One Bites the Dust

My shedding tree

So this is a big deal to us, though most people won't be quite as excited - J passed 2 out if his 4 CPA exams so far (and with flying colors). These tests are tres dificil so I am very proud of him. Only 10% of people pass them all on the first try. Let's hope he keeps up the good work so we can get them over with lickety split. Between him being in tax season, going to his 10 hour day at the U of U on Saturdays and studying R is missing her pops pretty badly. Also this is something that I know nobody will really care about but I am glad that I figured out - my huge tree isn't a maple tree it is a sycamore tree and they are super messy. It is normal for them to shed their bark constantly and make a huge mess. I thought that the tree had a disease or something. My rake will never collect dust though and R likes to help the tree by picking off the bark. I am also happy that J's sister Mel and her husband Nate will be coming to visit this weekend.

I am a nanny now too, by the way. I didn't think that it would work to take on an extra little boy, who is 8 months old, and my spicy little meatball, R, who is a handful, but I guess when I really want to I can multitask. He is a dream to watch though because he takes 2 long naps so I basically only watch him for 3 or 4 hours out of 8 that he is at my house. R has never taken a nap longer than 1 hour and normally she only sleeps for 30 minutes during naps. I had no idea that babies could sleep for 2 or 3 hours during a nap. But here's to hoping that my next child will be a sleeper so that I can have the energy to play with R to her heart's desire. She is really into dancing right now and she makes me dance with her. Her dancing usually ends when she spins in circles until she falls down dizzy and lays there laughing instead. What a nutty girl.

Trip to Idaho

We have missed a lot things about Idaho since we left. A friend got married out near Kelly Canyon this past weekend so we headed up to Idaho for a short, one night vacation. We packed a lot into our short trip. We got into Rexburg on Friday night and went to some of our old stomping grounds. On the way down though, R spilled milk all over her car seat and it made our car smell terrible until we finally got it cleaned up and aired out. We got our favorite frozen custard from BRC. The next day we had to be out of our hotel by 12 but the wedding didn't start until 4 so we decided to head up to Mesa Falls after we stopped at Millhollow for sandwiches (which is my favorite place to eat, I have craved it for over a year now) and then went to the sand dunes. R was a wilderness girl all day. She loved hiking around the falls and she wanted to look at every flower and pine cone she came across. She also loved the dunes, she was giggling and tumbling around the whole time that we were there. It was really funny to watch her. We also went to Albertson's and bought cereal and if you know J and I, we can't resist stocking up on 10 for $10 cereal deals, even on vacation. They don't have cereal 10 for $10 in Utah as often as they do in Rexburg. So we eventually went to the wedding and it was beautiful with a great reception. The End.

More Pictures

Just some random pictures.

R thinks that if she kisses the door it will open for her.

I Heart Summer

I was skeptical of my new town before I moved here because people told me it was gross, but I have really liked it here. They have free lunches for kids in the park all summer. There is a great children's museum, the whole town is surrounded by views of either mountains or the lake. I am close to hiking (a 2 minute walk to a trail that leads me to a waterfall), fishing, and camping. The only downside is that our mall is how you say "crappy". But it should help me save money because if I have to go very far for decent shopping then I won't go very often.
J has started his fall busy season - woe is me. But it will be over on October 15th and I will get to see him again. At least I have my R to keep me busy. She would live outside if she had her way so we go on 2 walks per day and spend the rest of the time playing on playgrounds or in the backyard. And oh my stars, the backyard is absolutely covered in leaves and branches. If anyone has been to my house they know I have a massive tree. I looks like a maple, but I don't really know. It  sheds bark constantly for some reason and drops these green balls everywhere which sprout up more trees. But, to make matters worse, the other day it rained for the first time all summer and leaves and branches and green balls are now everywhere. I have been raking and raking and have barely made a dent.
My little gal is getting to the point where she is picking things up so quickly. She doesn't seem like a baby anymore and she wants to do everything herself. She prefers to eat sitting in a big chair, she tries to wipe herself while I change her. She picks out her own clothes and brushes her own hair. She makes me put lotion in her hands so she can put it on herself and she does the same thing with the soap and the washcloth in the tub. She also likes to rinse herself off by pouring water on her own head in the tub! She is a cleaning machine, if she finds or makes any crumbs on the floor she gets the broom and tries to sweep it, she also puts any paper she finds in the garbage. She continues to love helping with the laundry and she wipes things down when I give her a paper towel. When she dances she stomps her feet like in Flashdance and spins in circles until she falls over. I could, like any mom, go on and on, but I will say one more thing.... the other night, right as she was falling asleep she gurgled the word sleep and then passed out.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

R and I sneaked a quick vacation in last month to Chicago and Southern Ontario. J wasn't able to go because his CPA exams and classes interfere with him having much fun this summer. So R and I left him lonesome for us at home. Our trip started off rocky. There was tornado like weather in Chicago the day we were leaving. The airline boarded us onto the plane and then were told that we couldn't take off due to bad weather in Chicago. Then we could and then we couldn't, etc., etc for 4 hours with no food or drink because we couldn't open our trays in case the captain had to take off on a moment's notice. R was playing with everyone on the plane and fell asleep on the old lady sitting next to us. Finally we get to take off and we hear a man yelling and groaning. It turned out that he was having a seizure. It was nuts, he bit a part of his tongue right off and was fighting off everyone who was trying to help him. Paramedics came and took him off of the plane and then 3 hours later we were in Chicago.
We got to see lots and lots of relatives and friends and R got a bit overwhelmed because we traveled around so much and saw so many people. We also went to the Brookfield Zoo and took the train downtown (in Chicago) to sight-see and swim in Lake Michigan at the North Avenue beach. When we were in Canada in rained pretty much the whole time so we didn't get to go out much there. I got lots of babysitting offers from my mom and sisters so I even got to go to Six Flags which was really fun, I forgot how much I missed going on roller coasters. The Raging Bull was the funnest roller coaster ever, so scary. It felt like we were climbing higher for half an hour before we dropped.

R spent a lot of her time at my mom's going through my sister's closet and trying on each of her shoes. She has been in love with shoes for months now and she really was impressed with her Aunt Christina's collection. She loved the beach and wanted to take off and swim on her own.