Holy Moly Advents

First off, Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone got to see Tangled in 3D with an extra large popcorn. Obviously that is the best recipe for a fun holiday.

And let it be known that despite baby being almost here, we have been not neglecting our Christmas traditions. True, some of them, yes. No lights this year. Fewer seasonal crafts and homemade treats. But not the countdowns. Here is a sampling of our morning advent calendar roundup:

#1: The pre-breakfast snack.

#2: The bushier the better beard advent.

#3: Movin' the snowflake advent.

#4: Numeric countdown.

#5: And a CHAIN!!! I love that someone dropped this off anonymously. I love these things. When I was in first grade, I made one with a piece of candy attached to each day and it rocked.

We also have not neglected our requests to the north pole.

Ella wrote this after being naughty to her sister all morning. Like Santa wouldn't know.

And Avery wrote hers in Morse code...anybody got a guess on that one???

Little Nugget

Only two months left...

From here on out, everything goes in fast forward. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has slipped away.

Broken

:(

What a crazy day yesterday. Avery fell off the little retaining wall behind our house while playing and was hysterical for half an hour before Bryson got home from work. She kept holding her neck and would freak out every time you picked her up so I was really scared. We tried to go to Instacare but they said they didn't do neck problems, so they sent us straight to the ER. She held so still for all the doctors and nurses and X-ray techs, which let me know she was hurting. A healthy toddler is a wiggly toddler. I just held her.

It turned out she fractured her collar bone on the right side on this picture. No cast, just something that has to heal. Unfortunately, she is refusing to drink her pain medicine and despite our best efforts to whip up a few sippy cup cocktails, she's miserable. Poor baby.

Happy Haunting

The witches are in.

Our Cheshire pumpkin.

I couldn't resist. You're only pregnant once...or three times.

And I'd just like to add that baby is the size of a squash this week, isn't that theme-appropriate?

Saving Room...

Don't ask me why I decided to make these yummilicious nuggets of heaven the night before my pregnancy diabetes test. Here's to hoping they don't call back because I'm not really sure I have three hours to spare. Our friends brought toppings of coconut, nuts, Reese's, and candy corn, in addition to our caramel and chocolate. Can Macintoshes please be in season year round?!?

This Sunday was the primary program...so fun to enjoy all the cute kiddos! Ella's seat happened to be in the bishop's chair and she said her part perfectly: "Jesus Christ was resurrected." Of course, that is, after telling the helper teacher to "please not tell me my part because I don't need help, I already know it."

P.S. We experimented with hair here. Instead of braids the night before, we did little buns all over her head. It was very full when afternoon church rolled around and turned out Sunday appropriate--but let's just say, when she woke up she might have passed for a member of the Jackson 5.

Weekend Time

Saturday we took the bikes up to Zion for a little fall bike ride. We biked up to the lodge, rode the bus to the Riverwalk, and rode the bikes back down. It hasn't gotten chilly here yet, so it felt like a late summer pleasant afternoon. We'll have to try again in a few weeks to hit the changing leaves.

We discovered a secret waterfall alcove off the beaten path. I can't tell you where it is, but here's a clue.

Where's Waldo...can you find Ella?

Gotta love Avery's signature smile: Miss Squinty Eyes.

And last weekend, Bryson's sister Melodi got married.

Life has gotten pretty crazy lately with me starting a new job with the St. George convention and tourism bureau and Bryson's job being on a roller coaster of ups and downs. We are along for the ride, but Saturdays are treasures.

First Edition

When you babysit Emily Lara, your child may decide to write her first novel.



Kind of sounds like life at our house. Those fun little animals.

Crab Legs???

In an effort to get Ella and Avery on opposite birthday party years, we told Ella we would just do a small family party for her five-year-old celebration. So, we gave her some options: Pirate Island Pizza, McDonalds nuggets at the park, Cafe Rio. But she wasn't feeling it. Guess what she wanted? Crab legs!!! And baked potatoes. All with a Tiana theme. What a stitch. We all told her thank you for her excellent taste in good quality food.

This day started with a big breakfast in bed. She told Bryson when she woke up that she could tell she was five now because she felt taller and her hair was longer.

Bryson and I totally procrastinated her present. We could not find anything we wanted. So in the end, 30 minutes before her big dinner, I ran to Walmart and finally got what she'd asked for...a Barbie and the Mermaid Tail water slide for the bathtub. I'll admit, I looked at that and thought big plastic waste of money. But truthfully, she was completely excited and took an hour-long bathtime last night. She also asked me this morning how early she could take a bath after dinner and for how long. So maybe it wasn't a waste after all :)

Ella decorated her own Tiana cake, just another of her many creative endeavors. We love Ella's artistic flair and never-ending art projects, sketches, and inventions. Happy 5th birthday, Ella Bella!

Spiders and Sunshines...

...are Avery's favorite still life subjects. Although I'm not always clear on which are which. And really, neither is she. That's the magic of being two--everything you do is charming whether it makes sense or not.

Avery has also steadily begun to refer to herself in the third person. And sometimes, when she's in pretend mode, she refers to her pretend persona in the third person. Her alter ego used to be named "Baby Ariel," but now there's also a "Big Ariel" in the mix, so that we really never are quite sure who needs the drink, snuggie, diaper change, etc. Nix diaper change. We're always pretty sure on that one.

I can't help but remember this episode of Seinfeld when she starts talking about herself in the third person though.

South Side, Baby

Crazy that it takes 5 hours to get to the Grand Canyon South Rim when the North Rim is only like 2 hours away. We could literally see Bright Angel Point right acoss the ravine. But the company is much better south side...


I'm afraid of heights so when my legs weren't wobbling like Jello, I was trying to keep my kids from the ledge. Which was like trying to keep moths from a flame. Doesn't Avery just look like she's up to no good?

On the trip back we hit the Wupatki Indian ruins, very cool.

Fun Labor Day! My life would not be the same without knowing about Bananagram, Oregano's, and the Law family rules of choosing a good baby name (which I may be violating with this next chillin).

1st Day of Preschool

Yes, I am the nerdy parent who went to my child's first day of school with my camera and took five million pictures. And Bryson took a late lunch break so he could come give her a little blessing and drop her off too. This is not just Ella's first day, but ours as well. The era of schooldays begins here.

Since Ella's group meets in the afternoon, the morning anticipation was intense (Is it time? Now? Is it time now? How about now?). Ella picked out her favorite dress to wear, which I just crossed my fingers would not disintegrate while she was at school. Favorite = I wear it every other day = almost see-through thin fabric = one wrong turn and nakie!

Mrs. Provost, Ella's first teacher.

First day was successful. Ella came home and told me all about the books they read, the dress-ups she wore (Snow Queen and Silvermist), and playing outside on the tire swing. Our next item of business is to narrow down which toy she will bring for show and tell on Thurs.!

Big 5 Ella

When my parents gave Ella a Cinderella dress-up costume for Christmas three years ago, we began anticipating the day it would actually fit her. Well that day is finally here and we had a fun time getting little Cinderella all spruced up for her five-year-old shots. We laughed that some of them reminded us of bridals...but won't she be a beautiful bride one day?! Happy birthday to Ella in two and a half weeks.
Thanks Heather for sharing your photographer Val with us!

And I don't mean $5 footlong

We picked a random weekday and got permits to hike the SUBWAY on Wednesday, hoping that the back-to-school-ness of the season and the weekday-ness of the choice would help our chances for getting permits. We've been meaning to get back to this hike since we first did it four years ago.

We loaded up a car with Glen and his granddaughter Alexandra, Bryson's friend Brent from work, and Avery. Ella didn't make the cut--too big to carry. Avery now fits that category as well. Our revised parenting policy will include one free ride on the subway tracks, but after that our kids are going to have to earn it.

Can you tell it was the most beautiful day to tackle this? Because it was gorgeous: high temps, lots of sun, lots of water flowing through the canyon.

We hiked it from the bottom up to the subway and back, and it took us the full day.

Goin' down the tracks, clickety clack. All aboard!

And at long last, the Subway tunnel...


Hopefully it won't be four more years till we hike this again!