Happy Birthday Alecia!

Happy 11th Birthday to my gorgeous niece ALECIA! I had the privilege of living with my sister Marci and my brother-in-law Bill and the kids (Kayla, Karl, and Alecia . . . I missed Alex by just 11 months) after I graduated from Ricks College in 1998, before I moved to Arizona. I loved my time with the kids and Alecia was especially cuddly! I remember one of the last nights I lived with them, the kids were all trying to brush their teeth at the same time before going to bed, and little 3 1/2 year old Alecia comes running out of the bathroom crying, trying to tell us what was happening. We couldn’t understand her, but eventually we got out of her that Karl pushed her while she was on the stool, and then she ended it by saying, “And now I’m never going to brush my teeth again!” That’s a gem I quote in my frustrations too! Happy Birthday my gorgeous girl!

Fun at the Park

Adam and Xan planned a nice outing at the park for our families on Saturday night! We played on the playground, ate some hotdogs, threw some Cheetos at the ducks, and went in a boat. Anabelle and Stella came with me and Elliot in the USS Alexandra (Adam’s inflatable boat), while Adam, Xan, Raymond, and George went to float origami boats and go fishing. Anabelle and Stella both got a chance to row the boat after we pointed out several ducks and a crane.



The funniest part of the night was after the boating and fishing when the kids were playing on the playground. I loved it because the boys were actually letting me play with them and we were having a great time. At the end of the night George started just sitting at the end of the swirling slide, waiting for Anabelle to come down. Eventually Raymond would come down – head first – and they’d all get off and slide again. Stella became part of the fun on the big slide and it looks like she kicked all of the other kids off! I didn’t get a picture of it, but Anabelle had a wet face full of sand. The kids had a great time, I had a great time, Elliot had a great time . . . why don’t we do this more often?

Update on Aunt Lindsay

It sounds as though Lindsay's surgery went really well. The 5-7 hour surgery only took 3 1/2 hours, thankfully without having to use the heart and lung machine and not needing any extra blood. They kept her heavily sedated the first night to make sure her heart was handling the extra pressure they put on it with the band tightening. I haven't talked to my mom today, but yesterday she said that all of the breathing tubes were out of Lindsay and that she was trying to joke around with everyone. I hear she also told a dirty joke before she went in for surgery. Let's blame that one on the anesthesia. We're so excited for Aunt Lindsay to come home . . . Stella especially!

Panty Head

Stella wanted to help me with her laundry by throwing all of her clothes out on the floor. She found the bloomers of one of her dresses and just put them on her head! We, of course, laughed and she just thought it was the funniest thing after that! Girl, you’ve got a panty on your head!

Surgery

Aunt Lindsay is having her 3rd open heart surgery today in San Francisco, California. Last March she had a surgery to put a band on one of the arteries in her chest. I’m a little shady on the real details and I could quite possibly be making this all up, but I think the point of the band is to force the weak side of her heart to work harder like it’s supposed to. Today’s surgery is tighten the band to make her blessed little heart work more! This just makes her tired, but it’s all good stuff because then in about 6 to 9 months she’ll have her 4th surgery to switch the main arteries to where they should have been in the first place! I can just hear that “Glory of Love” number complete with dancing, actions, and costume! Can’t wait to see you Lindz!

Happy Birthday Karl!

Happy 13th Birthday to my very first born nephew KARL! He’s a teenager! One of my favorite memories of Karl is when he was about 3 years old and would stand on anything that would make him a little taller so he could tell the stories that he just made up. They always started like a fairytale and about 30 seconds later, they were over. He just made us laugh so much, and though he’d hate it if I even got close now, he loved to give out kisses! Happy Birthday Karl!

Sleepy Mermaid

This is what happens when I leave getting Stella ready for bed up to Elliot. He put both of her legs into one side of the sweats and we didn’t notice until this morning!

WEEK 6

I haven’t been to the gym this week because I got strepp throat AGAIN! I’m not contagious anymore, but I’m still battling the sore throat and don’t feel like wheezing my way through a workout. I did, however, have a burst of energy the day after I started the medication and started cleaning . . . WHAT?! Ceiling fans, my craft room, I even put up curtains in my bedroom that we’ve been waiting a year and a half to do. So in a way I have been getting a little exercise. Plus this morning I went to the Mesa Cannery to help and did my weight training there. Everyone else that came to volunteer was either pregnant or 80 years old. Once we all get healthy around here, you just watch out for my new bursts of energy!

Dancing with the Stars

Did anyone else feel like the dancers weren't having very much fun last night on Dancing With The Stars? Even though she's not my favorite, I think Lisa Rinna deserved a 10 on at least one of the dances last night. She deserved a 10 for last week's performance of her quick-step. I hate the quick-step and it makes me nervous to watch people do it, but I thought they did a good job. The judges obviously want Stacy Kiebler to win (so does Elliot, he has a crush on her), but I think that Drew Lachey should win. Poor little guy just dances his little heart out. I like him because he actually dances - does the foot work, the arms, and even though his partner freaks me out, they are really good (Louis freaks me out too). I liked his Thriller dance a couple weeks ago. I love this show! It makes me want to dance!

Keys

Stella loves keys. She has a set of play keys that are always to be found when needed. Silly me thought that if I let her play with my keys, of course she wouldn’t lose them because she never loses her own keys. They were nowhere to be found! I had a bunch of friends and kids over that day and had no idea where they could have been or who could have taken them! I kept asking Stella to help me find them and I honestly think she was trying to find them. She’d look in her stroller and take a peek in the laundry room, but we just couldn’t find them. The next day we did the same thing. I emptied all of her toy baskets, I checked under beds, under furniture, everywhere! I had given up, so Elliot and Stella kept looking. Right before bed time, Stella decided to jump on the trampoline and all of the sudden we just hear her say, “KEYS!” She found them under the trampoline pad . . . and was so proud of herself for doing so.

Laughter

Can you just hear that laugh?

Boy Scouts

My cousin Nathan Anderson is awesome. I'm sure we could have fun hanging out because we both like computers, but I'm also positive I'd feel way out of my league because he's a brain when it comes to technology. As I was reading my comments from old blog entries I found out that Nate has a blog that he started for the Boy Scouts and Duty to God. I haven't taken a good look at it yet, but I'm sure it's helpful. Here's what he says:

"I am a driven person who loves technology. I have been involved with computers from an early age. I started eTrailToEagle.com because of the need I saw when I was called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency. Our Ward needed a better way to centralize the Duty to God tracking information. I started eTrailToEagle.com two years ago, but released it to the public in May of 2005."

Check out his blog (Boy Scout and LDS Duty to God Tracking)!

Quotes

I'm a thief, but I enjoyed these quotes from Adam's blog (one great thing) and Beth's blog (Defying Gravity).

"When you blame others, you give up your power to change." - Dr. Robert Anthony (American educator)

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end. For then the journey is over and it is too late. The time for happiness is today, not tomorrow." — Joseph Smith Jr.

Keefee & Lou

Uncle Keith and Aunt Lindsay shared Family Home Evening with us on Monday. While Elliot and I were finishing up dinner, Lindsay and Keith were bouncing the nerf soccer ball back and forth with their heads and Stella was laughing so hard that she was BAWLING! Tears, I tell ya, tears! I didn't get a picture of that, but I got the video of her adorable giggle! We're so happy when Uncle Keefee and Aunt Lou come to visit!

Smells like Zoo

Two of my friends are celebrating their birthday's today (Brooke Cook and Carla Spidell) and so before we went out to lunch this afternoon, I went to the zoo with Brooke and the kids (Justin and Tyler).


Stella is starting to get a little more excited about the animals now that she can make their sound. She got to throw a carrot at the elephant (Sheena) and we watched the orangutans (Michael and Duchess) eat some palm leaves.


The 3rd orangutan (Bess - Duchess' daughter) had a baby about 3 weeks ago and they are about to put her on display in the next week or so. We saw a little picture of the baby and she's so adorable!

The zoo keepers haven't actually examined the baby to see if it really is a girl, they've just been letting the mommy take care of it. If it is a girl, the Phoenix Zoo will probably be able to keep it, but if it's a boy, they'll have to move it to another zoo. Michael wouldn't do well with another male in the group. I can't imagine what those giant hands could do to a tiny little baby!