a few steps

olivia has taken a few steps. they are akward and unsure. she did it for the first time on sunday at a friend's house. she isn't necessarily walking but i think she is getting closer each day. she can now stop herself from falling hard. it is so much fun to watch her progress. i have to admit i am excited for her to walk. we need to get her off the floor. crawling is dirty!! i will let you know for sure when she is walking. until then, I need to figure out about a christmas tree. I am pretty sure she will think it is her personal playground!!

Grandma Zoe's Birthday

Today is Eric's Dad's Mother's birthday. She is a spit fire. She is 93 and full of life. Sometimes she is even pleasant. We made the trek up to surprise her for her special day. We even brought See's Candies. She loves the candy. She was in a great mood and we enjoyed the time there. She keep telling me that she was so glad that I could finally stop by and see her house. In fact, she asked me three times if this was the first time I had been there. I guess that at 93 you can forget that your grandson has been married for over 7 years and his wife has been to you house countless times. So Happy Birthday Grandma Zoe!

one day a year!

One day a year, I trade in my stay at home mom status and join the work force. Okay. Not really work but once a year I take the asbestos refresher course to update my asbestos abatement contractor supervisor certification. I know you are thinking, WHAT?!?! I took the course for the first time in 2002. My dad was tired of paying to send people to this course only to have them leave the company. So he came of with a brilliant idea (or so he thinks!) for me to take the course. The idea is that as his daughter I will always be there. So despite the fact that I have been retired from my job at Capitol Roofing for more than 3 years, once a year I take the class so that they will have someone certified to deal with asbestos. I am always happy as I drive away that I won't have to work for at least a year!

i am thankful for.....

these are a few of the things I am thankful for:
(in no particular order)
my family
my mom and dad
the gospel in my life
eric
savannah
olivia
freedom
my house and it being finished
my health
warm showers (when I get them!)
friends, near and far
the ability to learn and be taught
my camera
bedrock and all its success
sleep (I will be even more thankful when I get a full night!)
my sisters
cell phone plans so i can talk to my sisters ALL the time
so many more things....

my favorite holiday

thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for years. i started to love thanksgiving when I was in my early twenties. i love the whole day. the prep. the meal. the family and friends. love love love it! this year was no exception. it was a little more work since we hosted the meal this year. we usually rotate years with parents. st george every other year with my parents, sandy the other year with eric's parents. we didn't think with eric's schedule that we would be able to make it to st george so we decided to stay in sandy. since it was just eric's mom and dad and his bro steve, we offered to host the meal. then my parents decided to stay in town so we invited them too! it was a different day but it was a lot of fun. my mom has always invited "strays" to dinner so this wasn't anything new. the meal was fabulous!! With only 8 adults and Savannah this was the most relaxed and quiet meal we've had in years! Olivia took a nap and woke up just as I was finishing my last bite! What a great day!!

new bishop

I don't usually share such personal feelings, but I am trying to get over that.

today was a sad and happy day in our ward, after over 5 years our bishop was released. I really can't remember the last time I was in church for a new bishopric meeting. (We weren't at the last one for Bishop Farr because we were in Hava Supai!) I was even sure what to expect. It is hard to believe that we have been in this ward long enough to be here for an entire Bishop's calling. It was a very spiritual meeting. I think that if you didn't feel the spirit there you must not know what it is. The stake president (who is from our ward, he lives one house away from us.) started the program by asking anyone who has ever had a blessing from the bishop to stand up. I am pretty sure every single adult was standing. There were a few more questions like this. It made you realize how fortunate we were to have such a great bishop and how much he will be missed. On the other hand, the new bishop is going to be great. LIke you could really say someone is going to be a bad bishop. John Swallow was the bishop in a singles ward and was just barely released. We are all excited for the changes and sad to see a great bishop be release! It was really a happy and sad day for our ward.

I have to say that I teared up even before the meeting. One of the counselour's came up and gave me a hug and told me that one of the most touching blessings he had ever given was to me. I was being set apart as the secretary in the primary and in part of the blessing he said that I would be a mother. At that time I was struggling with infertility and I don't think that there was a dry eye in the room after that blessing. I had forgotten this blessing and I am so glad that he told me about it. I have blocked out a lot of emotional things during this time period, so I am really grateful that he shared it with me. It helps me remember that my Heavenly Father knows and loves me.

Olivia & the Stairs

Olivia has a new hobby. It is the baby version of mountain climbing. OliviA loves the stairs. If I turn my back for even a second she is up those stairs in no time flat. It is amazing to watch her climb. And every time she reaches the top she is all smiles. She realizes that she has reached the top once again and is so proud of herself! I worry about this new hobby so I try to make sure that I know where she is at all times. There is the occaisional sneaking away trip. Once time she sat at the top of the stairs and cried for me. She just sat there and cried. It was like she knew that going down was going to be a challenge she just wasn't ready for.

Happy Birthday to Danielle!

Okay, so her birthday was a week ago. I am late blogging but not celebrating. We had a great time celebrating with Danielle. This was her first birthday in Utah in 4 years. We were excited to spend her special day with her! We went to lunch with the utah sisters and all the kiddos! (We missed you nicole! It would have been so much more fun with you and your boys too!) We had a mini sorta surprise party at my parents the night of her bday! Thanks Danielle for turning 28 so we could have reason to spend more time together!!

Time for a change

Anyone who knows me knows that I have super thick hair. It has been short and it has been long. I have definitely been attached to my hair. It is almost like a security blanket. In college, I had it short and then after I grew it out. Super long. I have taken it to various lengths since then. I had it long for my wedding and then cut it like everyone else does after the wedding. Well, I needed this change. I had been debating it for a long time. It is not a decision I rush into. Although my hair grows great and thick, I need to be ready or else I regret it A LOT! I thought I was ready and I was! Monica cut lots of layers and thinned it out. My hair on the floor looked like a small animal! I love my new thinner hair. It feels great!! Monica (with input from SIL April) cut it into a great shape and something that makes me feel so much better. I had been feeling like I had the same hair forever! I was ready for the change! I love it and am excited to have a new look! I may even change the color to something crazy! Who knows, I may go shorter! I am sure I will miss my hair but is only hair and it grows back!

A case of the blahs

I have had a case of the blahs or maybe blog burnout. Not sure which. Sometimes I feel like I am just surviving. Olivia had an ear infection last week, so I got a little bit of sleep here and there at night and she barely napped during the day. I think that takes a lot out of me. I really need me time. But since I am a mom and I have young children me time is limited. Not that I am complaining, I love being a mom. I think that sometimes I just need a break from it all! Anyway... I am going to try to snap out of it. I think I can do, I need to do it! The holidays are coming and well I need to be ready for it!!

Raking Leaves

Eric spent a few hours in the yard on Saturday. He dug a hole to find the leak in our sprinkler system. (I have to mention that he wanted me to take pictures and put it on my blog. Because so many people care about sprinklers!) Then he raked up the leaves in the backyard. We have one large maple tree and this is about all the leaves we get. Eric wanted Savannah to have fun in the leaves. He wanted her to run and jump and play and throw them around. She didn't get it. Finally he jumped in the pile too and then the fun took off! It was great to see Eric spending a little time having fun with Savannah!

It's Done!!!

For every birthday my mom makes us something. A quilt, a bag, a table runner. It is really fun and it is a lot of work on her part. I decided to give back to her. I told her to pick out something that she would like me to do for her. Well, this is it. It is a snowman embroidery. It is by far the biggest embroidery project I have EVER done. It is huge. I started on October 20th. It was fun and I even learned a new stitch for it. She said all I had to do with the stitching. Mom, I am done. It is here waiting for you when you get home! Love you and I am happy your birthday is only once a year!

Halloween!

Halloween is not one of Eric's favorite holidays. In fact, I am sure he hates Halloween. It isn't even one of my favorite holidays but I do think that kids love it (I loved it as a kid) and I want to make sure that Savannah (in time Olivia) enjoys the day!. As you know, Savannah was a punkin. Olivia was a lady bug. She basically wore here costume for pictures and for grandparents. Eric's family used to have the tradition of going out to dinner for Halloween but with kids and everything that has changed. At the last minute I invited his family (and anyone who wanted to come over) to dinner. I made chili and carrot chowder. It was yummy. (I think I ate most of the carrot chowder the next few days!) It was a good time. I took Savannah to a few houses Trick or Treating. I figure I will have to do more each year but right now we will take it easy! It was a great night. Relaxing and fun.