My apologies!

Just had to share this picture of Elsie's new seat! I thought it was so funny. :) Just can't get enough of this kid! :)

So I just want to post a quick apology to anyone who has been anxiously checking our blog for the past couple of weeks, only to get my boring little play by play posts! :) Sorry! :) 

I've realized over the past year that I've often used my blog as an outlet - for creativity and emotion - and lately I've been feeling a little drained ---- there hasn't been much of an overflow :) - so sorry! :) There's been a lot going on in our family - from within and without - lots of changes and lots to think about. So I apologize that for the next little while my blogging will probably be pure maintenance. I'll be sure to keep you posted, but don't expect too much! :)

ALSO - I just wanted to say - what is in the air lately?? Not only have I had incredibly bad allergies for the past few weeks, but I was doing a little counting this morning and realized that I have at LEAST TWELVE close friends and family members who are expecting babies anytime between now and February! Holy COW! Apparently LOVE is in the air! :) --- Wait . . . is THAT what I'm allergic too? :) (ha ha!)

My Little Angel

In the past two weeks Elsie has not only continued to WOW us with her physical prowess but she has also found her favorite word. She's started saying Mama, Dada, Baba over the past month or so, but her new word I would consider her first REAL word. She has started saying "Hi." It is the CUTEST thing in the world. Unfortunately she is kind of a stinker - so I'll have to try to catch her on camera when she's unaware, but I just thought this picture was adorable!

She has the sweetest little personality, but she certainly knows how to be a pill! :) I tried in vain for quite some time to catch her talking on camera. As I was downloading and looking through pictures from the past few weeks, Nels and Elsie came into the room - right as I was playing a couple of the clips I'd just taken of her. On camera, you can hear me saying, "Elsie! Say Hi!!! Say Hi!" As she hears this on the computer, she immediately starts jabbering and saying HI repeatedly!

Podiatric Injuries

It's hard to be a kid who can't take the time to wear shoes - and for some reason can't seem to keep them on (I think it may be a genetic problem). Lilie came to me the other day saying that she had "a bleed" on her foot. I took a look, saw nothing, and sent her on her way. Last Saturday morning as we were rushing to get to Duchesne, I asked her to stop jumping on Grandma's bed and put on her shoes. 30 seconds later she came to me wailing, with one shoe on, one in her hand, saying, "I have a bleed!" I kneel down, look at her foot, and see that her ANKLE is entirely SWOLLEN! WHAT??!!! There is but one scrape on the back of her heel - not even a CUT! The resident Nurse (a.k.a. Grandma) calms me from rushing to the hospital for an antibiotic :) and soaks her little foot in some hot salt water. Later that day, most all the swelling was gone.

Well, as the girls and I were driving the other day, all of a sudden Hazel starts screaming, "I have a scratch on my toe!!!" I calmly ask her if it's bleeding - she says no. Okay. Then stop screetching! :)
That evening as I'm washing her up, I get a look at said "scratch" and see THIS! When questioned about what happened, she has NO IDEA. How someone opens up a 3/4 inch gash on their toe and has no idea how it happened is beyond me!

My cute (and CLEAN!) girls soaking their injuries! :)
Salt water is an incredible healer!

Sunday Drive

We returned from our trip to Utah only to find bare cupboards and a bare fridge. Not even leftovers to have for our Sunday dinner. :(

SO, as I looked at what we DID have - mostly potatoes - I thought, "Perfect for a Hobo Dinner." Now, I don't know that driving up into the mountains, building a fire, and cooking tinfoil dinners are necessarily appropriate Sunday activities, but you know pioneers had to cook their Sunday dinners over fires, right?? :) And we had a really sweet time with our little girls - looking at nature and enjoying our Father's creations. :)

The versatility of the Port-A-Crib!!
What a fabulous invention!

The fire-pit we found had a bunch of
donated lengths of 2x4's and such
that Daddy fashioned into a perfect bench
and made wonderful toys (as well as firewood)! :)

Cute little CRACK!

Sweet Land of Liberty

Holy cow!!! I have been a HUGE slacker these past two weeks! I don't know why, but I have no ambition to blog! :) Sad. I'll just have to force myself! :)

We have been incredibly busy this summer - with a lot of emotional roller-coasters, I feel as if I'm never on top of all that needs to be done, but it's been good, nonetheless.

For the 4th we decided to make the journey down to Utah and out the the Merkley farm in Duchesne (5 hours total of driving). We got down to Bountiful at about 11 pm, picked up my madre and my Genny, and headed out for 2 more hours of driving. Nels was driving (which he doesn't really like doing - especially in Utah, but my eyes were beat and it was no longer safe for me), he missed the usual exit to get onto the freeway, so we took a detour through North Salt Lakel. He missed the second exit to get onto the freeway and we headed down Beck Street to get on at 600 N. Well, as he was missing all these exits, he kept saying that the steering just felt really loose - so we decided to stop at a gas station on the way and fill up the tires. Well as Nels was doing so, he found the problem. A large piece of metal embedded in our tire wall. FLAT. Hhhmmmmm . . . where to get a tire fixed at 11:30 at night on JULY THIRD??? Needless to say, by divine providence, Nels missed TWO exits on to the freeway and we stopped before heading out ino the barenness of Eastern Utah and we DID NOT make it to Duchesne that night. When we finally did, it was great to see my family! I love them all so much!!!

While lighting fireworks we reaffirmed that Lilie is a pyro! She loved LIGHTING the fireworks!!! Hazel, true to form, acted nervous of everything that made any kind of noise, but in the end, had a great time as well!

Look at those little ragamuffins!! :)
A day on the farm, filled with cousins and popsicles
will do that to a kid!

My beautiful Genny!

My handsome bro-der!

Sweet niece, Ali!!!
And to answer your curiosity,
that red-coloring is NOT from the sparkler! :)
After three years of living in Illinois,
ONE day on a four-wheeler will do that to you!

It was truly a fabulous weekend! I was filled with a sense of pride and love for our blessed country and those who have fought and continue to fight for our lives, our families, and our liberty!

That night with my cousins, my nephew, and MOM (!) we played kick-the-can (which I haven't done since I was a kid)! It was SO fun!!! Luckily we had no more vehicular mishaps on the way home!