Applause...

Hyrum is 8 months old today and he learned how to clap his hands! He is going to be a great show-off for the babushkas we will see on our trip.

Growing up!

Sabrina is wearing the dress I made for her while Ryan is wearing the gift
that Sabrina gave him for Father's Day.

Now that she is 8 she gets to go to Achievement Day activities at church, where she made the gift. She was instructed to get a 'cast-off' tie from Dad and bring it to the activity before Father's Day. I was given the scoop on what the girls were going to be doing with the ties -- adding whatever embellishment they wanted, pom-poms, lace, fringe, ribbon, etc. When she was leaving for the activity, I advised her that she should not hold back any of her creative juices; pick whatever she liked to put on the tie. Sabrina chose fringe. It is a one-of-a-kind tie for a great dad from a one-of-a-kind daughter. Ryan did what any loving dad would do and proudly wore it to church on Father's Day.

Sonia Vallejo practicing for school.

During the last 2 weeks of second grade, they study a unit called "Apple Valley" which is where they turn back time to 1857 and behave as though they are a part of a one room school. All of the students get new names and ages and are separated into families. Sabrina became "Sonia Vallejo, age 14, oldest daughter in the family who live on a ranch just outside of town." As Sonia, she wore pioneer clothes - the same dress every day. (Well, that is not exactly the case, I didn't have this dress made in time, so for the first 3 days she wore the dress shown in the picture with Ryan with an apron over it, and then when I got this one finished, she wore it for the rest of the school year.) They got to learn 1850s songs and as a "Challenge Task" she took her violin to school and played 'I've been workin' on the Railroad.' A couple days later she sang 'Shoo Fly' and when I went in to help with the celebration, Mrs. Baggerly, aka Miss Virginia Pritchett, said Sabrina was the first student of hers to ever sing a song for a "Challenge Task".

Ready for summer!

Sabrina decided that she needed her hair cut. She wanted "bangs and hair as short as her ears so she could look more childish". Our neighbor (and Sabrina's primary teacher) cut her hair and convinced her that it would look better as a bob about chin length. It is so cute! Although, I'm afraid she may become vain with all of her looking in the mirror that she's done in the last 45 minutes since her hair was cut. About 6 inches were cut off.

Dedicated to the one I love

I miss my husband. As assistant Boy Scoutmaster, he is at Camp Morrison, a Boy Scouts of America camp near McCall with the 3 scouts aged 12-13 years in our ward. He gets to do the swim check in the very cold waters of Payette Lake, then go snorkeling, canoeing and white water rafting. He left really early this morning - 5:45 a.m. Most mornings he helps a lot with getting the kids breakfast and such. He comes home for lunch a lot. And family home evening is just not the same without him - especially when he is in charge of the lesson!

Hiking earlier this spring with the scouts.

Happily, he returns sometime late tomorrow night and then the next day we depart for our two week vacation to Europe to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. {we depart on our 10.5 year mark because no one wants to really travel to St Petersburg in December.} We're taking the baby because 'he's attached;' the older two will spend time with extended family in Utah.

Three-year-olds need naps

Sundays are hard. With church at 1 pm, nap-time is really tricky for Roderic. Sometimes Ryan can get him to fall asleep during Sacrament meeting, and then things go o.k. (unless he is prematurely awakened in order to go to nursery, or if he completely misses nursery). Today was a no nap day.

Today's Evidence:
1. Locates the shears that were left on the patio table (by Malauna and Ryan) on Saturday and then using them to cut marigolds - just the flower heads, so perhaps they will bloom again - and onion greens from the garden.
2. Spray paints his baby brother's face with sunblock. (Fortunately for the almost 8 month old, the sunblock didn't get in his mouth or eyes.)
3. Tries to fall asleep on the chair at the kitchen table during dinner. (We woke him up before we thought to have a picture taken, but his head and knees were touching on the chair; it was remarkable that he didn't fall off.)
4. Falls down a lot, and not just imitating "Construction Foreman Dave" from the There Goes a Bulldozer video.
5. Jabs a penny whistle to the back of his throat while playing it and running into a rocking chair on purpose.
6. Quick to cry about everything including not getting an ice cream cone right after #5.
7. Tips over the cart with all the books in his bedroom.

The only perk to him not getting a nap is that bedtime was a bit less demanding. He did not ask for 13 bedtime stories, 5 lullabies, 7 cups of water, the humidifier, Dad to lay down with him, Mom to give him a back massage, or leave his bedroom door open. He never even left his room! There was no complaining at all and he was asleep soon after his head hit his pillow. I rest my case, 3-year-olds need naps.

Happy Birthday Roderic!

This 3 year old loves trucks, cars, trains, books (about trucks, cars & trains), going to Nursery at church each Sunday, watching movies, playing "Minnie's Kitchen" on the computer - making cakes and breakfast, and playing in his sandbox with trucks and cars.

For his birthday, we took him to ride on Thomas the Tank Engine in Heber City, Utah (over Memorial Day weekend). He was so excited to see Thomas! When Ryan took him over to see the engine, he was done after a few seconds because you see, Thomas didn't talk to him. Luckily, they had several tents with entertaining stuff for Roderic to do for the 90 minutes we had to wait for our train ride (because we missed the original train that we were supposed to ride).

When I asked Roderic (yesterday) what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he said, "Strawberries, tortillas and chocolate milk." And tonight for dinner we ate strawberries from our garden, tortillas (with melted cheese -- our friends the Bakers who showed us this way to eat tortillas said a friend of theirs called them 'casa-dillas'), chocolate milk, and broccoli (although Roderic didn't eat any broccoli until after he ate cake.)


I feel like I tapped all my creative juices for the cake decorations. When I was finished decorating it, I showed it to Roderic and he said excitedly, "That's Thomas!" That made it totally worth it to me. I made a cream cheese frosting that was especially delicious! I'm going to need to remember this recipe for future cakes and cookies:

9 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Mix in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer. If necessary, add milk to make of spreading consistency.

My baby can move!

Hyrum has been getting up on his knees for several weeks now and just rocking back and forth. I had a friend babysit him on May 17 so I could attend Sabrina's school music program. When I got back to pick him up, she told me he could move. And indeed he could, not much though. Now when he sees a toy or object he wants on the floor, he can go to it.

Before we left on our trip to Utah this past weekend (more details will be forthcoming on that eventful trip), Hyrum could get around with a combination of creeping and rolling. When we put him down on the floor right after arriving home, he crawled! (I dreamed a dream that night that he started walking 3 days after learning to crawl, but happily that hasn't happened.) I took this video and published it on youtube this afternoon as proof. Enjoy!