and rayna just 4 months! with 2 different boys!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
rolling over
well, rayna is officially on the move! she rolled over once two weeks ago in the night (i found her that way in the morning), but she hasn't done much more since... until friday. she's been rolling back and occasionally forth ever since. (meaning, she can get from her back to her stomach, and not quite half the time she can turn the other way, usually afton "helps" her or she gets mad and cries til i help). she's getting so big!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
save the sleeping beauty picture
i just wanted to preserve this shot in my blog memories, it's sept 21, 2008, sleeping beauty, she's been on the sidebar til june 09, so i thought i'd add her retroactively, i hope i get it in the right place. :)
time for an update
it must be time for an update... but we lead such boring lives! actually, i guess that's a lot safer and therefore probably preferable in the long run. we're settling in pretty well here.
afton's been having a great time meeting new friends and playing at lots of different playgrounds. shes very sociable and is quite the little mama, she gives lots of hugs and kisses to other kids (whether they want them or not), and likes to point out owies (which need extra kisses). in nursery at church today--i stayed in to help out cause they had more kids than usual and i don't have another calling yet--she repetedly went to the two kids that were crying and having a hard time bringing them toys or giving them hugs. i thought it was very sweet.
rayna's doing well too, she continues to grow so fast! i can barely believe it. she's generally a sweet, happy baby, though she still hates baths (she's getting used to water though, so that's gotta be a god thing). yesterday when grandma was babysitting, she showed off how developed her lungs are though, and her ability to reach notes only dogs should be able to hear (sorry again mom, we love you!).
paul had fun teaching in priesthood again today (he volunteered after filling in last week, so he's done it twice now). it's one of his favorite responsibilities at church. he's getting pretty busy with school. his research team is about done putting the plan together and have been getting some volunteers together to help with their project (something about yelling in the home and its affects on children--more details later).
i've been having fun taking the girls to the park, reading, and enjoying hte cooler weather. i've also been trying to get out jogging most evenings and to stake volleyball as often as possible. i much prefer sports with other people to jogging, but i have to get out and do something! the playgroup here also does a dinner evening once a week, which is nice, cause it gives paul a day to work late (without me sitting at home wishing he were here), and it gives us a chance to try some new things (and not worry about what to make for dinner-one of my least favorite chores every day, not the cooking, just the deciding!).
this weekend was my 10 year high school reunion, i feel old! we didn't go to the big evening activities, but we did go to a picnic yesterday afternoon. there was a fairly small turn-out considering the class was over 500 people, but it was nice to see a few familiar faces (even if names were hard to remember), and re-meet a few people that live around here. i've been away almost the whole of the last 10 years.
paul and i also went to the temple together yesterday for the first time in probably over 6 months. afton loved playing at grandma's (ah-ma's) with nicki and naomi and 'mikky' (afton still has a hard time with 'ss').
afton's been having a great time meeting new friends and playing at lots of different playgrounds. shes very sociable and is quite the little mama, she gives lots of hugs and kisses to other kids (whether they want them or not), and likes to point out owies (which need extra kisses). in nursery at church today--i stayed in to help out cause they had more kids than usual and i don't have another calling yet--she repetedly went to the two kids that were crying and having a hard time bringing them toys or giving them hugs. i thought it was very sweet.
rayna's doing well too, she continues to grow so fast! i can barely believe it. she's generally a sweet, happy baby, though she still hates baths (she's getting used to water though, so that's gotta be a god thing). yesterday when grandma was babysitting, she showed off how developed her lungs are though, and her ability to reach notes only dogs should be able to hear (sorry again mom, we love you!).
paul had fun teaching in priesthood again today (he volunteered after filling in last week, so he's done it twice now). it's one of his favorite responsibilities at church. he's getting pretty busy with school. his research team is about done putting the plan together and have been getting some volunteers together to help with their project (something about yelling in the home and its affects on children--more details later).
i've been having fun taking the girls to the park, reading, and enjoying hte cooler weather. i've also been trying to get out jogging most evenings and to stake volleyball as often as possible. i much prefer sports with other people to jogging, but i have to get out and do something! the playgroup here also does a dinner evening once a week, which is nice, cause it gives paul a day to work late (without me sitting at home wishing he were here), and it gives us a chance to try some new things (and not worry about what to make for dinner-one of my least favorite chores every day, not the cooking, just the deciding!).
this weekend was my 10 year high school reunion, i feel old! we didn't go to the big evening activities, but we did go to a picnic yesterday afternoon. there was a fairly small turn-out considering the class was over 500 people, but it was nice to see a few familiar faces (even if names were hard to remember), and re-meet a few people that live around here. i've been away almost the whole of the last 10 years.
paul and i also went to the temple together yesterday for the first time in probably over 6 months. afton loved playing at grandma's (ah-ma's) with nicki and naomi and 'mikky' (afton still has a hard time with 'ss').
Monday, September 15, 2008
Chicken Politics
(yes i totally stole this from the internet, i have no idea who originated it)
Why DID that chicken cross the road?
BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!
JOHN McCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.
HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure - right from Day One! - that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.
DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?
COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.
BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?
JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.
AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.
DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.
OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems,which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.
PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.
DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.
JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sortout this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side.' That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.
GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed theroad. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.
BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.
ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?
COLONEL SANDERS: How did I miss one?
Why DID that chicken cross the road?
BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!
JOHN McCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.
HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure - right from Day One! - that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.
DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?
COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.
BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?
JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.
AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.
DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.
OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems,which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.
PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.
DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.
JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sortout this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side.' That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.
GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed theroad. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.
BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.
ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?
COLONEL SANDERS: How did I miss one?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
afton's birthday!
she's 2!!
this is what she has to say about it:
ghsssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghkxxxxxssssssssssslyu jhuynmjhb mujhyyk8hj850oiiikoolggggggggggggggg tggkm;/]p[=-dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddf,
"
010
09+jiol
m
this is what she has to say about it:
ghsssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghkxxxxxssssssssssslyu jhuynmjhb mujhyyk8hj850oiiikoolggggggggggggggg tggkm;/]p[=-dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddf,
"
010
09+jiol
m
catch-up
well, we've been here a month now, and i still feel like there's not much to say. i guess i never really posted about our plumbing fiasco, but that's more in the realms of disgusting than interesting. (as we were finishing moving in the last of our boxes and breaking for lunch with my family--our movers--someone flushed the upstairs toilet and it started flooding into the bathtub and dripping through the ceiling onto our stuff below, fortunately we were able to get ahold of the emergency number for our landlord and someone came to fix it that night, and tear a hole in the ceiling, and all kinds of stuff, and double fortunately, we were able to go up to my mom's for the night until it was cleaned up and habitable again... i haevn't truely trusted that toilet since, though we've had no more trouble with it. and they did repair the ceiling below).
we've been trying to get to know some people here. they seem friendly, it just takes longer than a month to grow a friendship, i always forget how to start over :) or maybe i'm just spoiled by all the great friends i had in arizona. paul and i've been playing stake volleyball at the church thursday nights, and that's really fun, it's also good for me to get a little more exercise, i wish we could play longer and more often! i also invited myself to a playgroup put on by a friend of a friend of an aquaintance, it was tons of fun for the kids, and i really enjoyed it too. it was a little different because most of the "big" kids were boys, which afton doesn't have a whole lot of experience with, and there were 3 babies younger than rayna! (she's only three and a half months). we hope to get to know them all better.
paul's also been really busy with school and research. he only is taking three classes, but he figures he's working about 60 hours/week. we were just commenting the other day about how nice it is to have more time together too... funny how perspective changes over the years. he had his first in-class presentation on monday and it went really well. so far so good!
we've been trying to get to know some people here. they seem friendly, it just takes longer than a month to grow a friendship, i always forget how to start over :) or maybe i'm just spoiled by all the great friends i had in arizona. paul and i've been playing stake volleyball at the church thursday nights, and that's really fun, it's also good for me to get a little more exercise, i wish we could play longer and more often! i also invited myself to a playgroup put on by a friend of a friend of an aquaintance, it was tons of fun for the kids, and i really enjoyed it too. it was a little different because most of the "big" kids were boys, which afton doesn't have a whole lot of experience with, and there were 3 babies younger than rayna! (she's only three and a half months). we hope to get to know them all better.
paul's also been really busy with school and research. he only is taking three classes, but he figures he's working about 60 hours/week. we were just commenting the other day about how nice it is to have more time together too... funny how perspective changes over the years. he had his first in-class presentation on monday and it went really well. so far so good!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
reCONNECTED!!!!!
it's so nice to feel a part of the world again. not that i really minded going to the library to use the internet (it's only about a mile away), but it's hard to have the time to do anything with two little tykes! at home i have nights and nap-times (and yes, i generally get both girls asleep at the same time for afternoon naps, i'm GOOOOOOOD). it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, not even 80 today, so we've got the windows all open, which is a nice change from the hot weather. i wonder how long it'll last? (not that i imagine y'all need a weather up-date, but there's not much really going on, since i posted yesterday :) i guess that means i should stop.
pictures!!!!!
a few from rayna's blessing day (6 July)--finally got the old camera to upload, the connecter was broken, thanks dad for lending me your computer with associated card-reader :)
loved this one of rayna in blue (July 11)
The girls all dressed up for Independance Day! loved the red/white/blue!
(PS, i told you i'd get pics up eventually)
Monday, September 1, 2008
learning games
well school is back in session, and therefore we must be learning again. paul's getting started with his classes and seems to be enjoying them (he's not very talkative). he's taking three psychology classes and i'm sure i won't get the names right, but one is about adult psychological disorders, one about psychometrics (measurement tools in the profession), and the third is ethics in/and psychology. i'm not sure what he's learned yet, or what he enjoys most... i guess i need ot ask him some more pertinent questions (he hasn't actually had a lecture for the ethics class yet, it was cancelled last week).
afton's been learning her letters/numbers/colors. she's really very good with colors, and rarely misses one. letters are fun, she can say them all and identify about half (though we haven't even really been working on them much with her, it's amazing to me how much she just picks up from play and story time). she's just started counting, which is fun, generally she misses 6, but that's hard to say!
Rayna's getting really close to rolling over. she's been playing at grandma's house a lot lately though, so she's being held more (the aunts and grandma love holding her), so she hasn't been progressing much, but about two weeks ago, she made it from next to mama's bed all the way underneath, so we couldn't even see her (that was interesting in the middle of the night--she's in the crib now!). she's also really good at rotating (she can do a complete circle on her back in about 2 minutes, probably less if she were racing, but since i don't know how to entice her to race, i'm not sure :). she's still a great baby, very calm and happy.
i'm not really sure what i've been learning... i'm sure there's something. i've been learning my way around town, checking out different food stores and such. there's a lot more selection than in globe, which is really nice, but things generally cost a lot more here too, which isn't so nice. fortunately i'm pretty good at shopping around :). i also just had a birthday, and learned that birthday's pay off a lot more when you live closer to mom! thanks mom! love you!
afton's been learning her letters/numbers/colors. she's really very good with colors, and rarely misses one. letters are fun, she can say them all and identify about half (though we haven't even really been working on them much with her, it's amazing to me how much she just picks up from play and story time). she's just started counting, which is fun, generally she misses 6, but that's hard to say!
Rayna's getting really close to rolling over. she's been playing at grandma's house a lot lately though, so she's being held more (the aunts and grandma love holding her), so she hasn't been progressing much, but about two weeks ago, she made it from next to mama's bed all the way underneath, so we couldn't even see her (that was interesting in the middle of the night--she's in the crib now!). she's also really good at rotating (she can do a complete circle on her back in about 2 minutes, probably less if she were racing, but since i don't know how to entice her to race, i'm not sure :). she's still a great baby, very calm and happy.
i'm not really sure what i've been learning... i'm sure there's something. i've been learning my way around town, checking out different food stores and such. there's a lot more selection than in globe, which is really nice, but things generally cost a lot more here too, which isn't so nice. fortunately i'm pretty good at shopping around :). i also just had a birthday, and learned that birthday's pay off a lot more when you live closer to mom! thanks mom! love you!
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