I love Swiss Days

It's that time of year again...
Labor day...
hints of fall...and
SWISS DAYS!
It's a festival in Midway, Utah (which is next to Park City) with booths and food and music and parades and it's awesome. I love to go for the food--Swiss tacos (well, they're really Navajo tacos but since it's Swiss days they call them Swiss), caramel apples, and pie--and the booths. My favorite is the Rod Works booth, even though I go to their store so often I would know their inventory blindfolded. I love the beautiful drive through Provo canyon to get there because the leaves are just starting to turn colors; I love that it's cool in the mornings and hot in the afternoon; I love that you have to listen to kids perform who really don't sound very good and yodelers all day; I love that last year walking at Swiss Days put me into labor; I love that I can always find something cute for my house even if I don't need anything; I love that all of my sisters are here so we can go shopping together; I love that Dave took the day off today so I can go up both Friday and Saturday;

I love Swiss Days!!!

Isaac's New Bed

Thanks to Alice and Dave, Isaac has a fun new bed to play on and sleep in. Both kids love it. Noah loves climbing in and out of the playhouse (it's underneath the bed) and Isaac loves climbing on the greef "roof" and jumping down onto the mattress. I had to put a stop to that because it's dangerous, but he still likes playing up there. Here's the problem: Noah has started trying to climb up the stairs. You can't see them in this picture, but they're not like real stairs, more like a steep stair ladder. So he gets halfway up and then falls. I don't always sit in there and play with the boys, but the past few days when I hear a thud and a wail, I know Noah's been trying to climb again. I guess I can't let him play in there by himself anymore. Sad. But at least Isaac is loving his new bed!

I hate fireman game.

A few weeks ago I was watching Isaac push his trains around the track, and for some reason I grabbed his little fireman action figure and started talking to the train like he was Isaac. Whenever a train passes by our house he runs out on the balcony and starts talking to or about the cool freight train. So I was saying "Hi freight train, thanks for coming by my house" etc. etc. Well this game really took off. Isaac loves it. I hate it. I'm sorry, but I just don't really wanna sit and watch Isaac play trains, and occassionally talk to the train as the fireman. The first thing he says every morning is "Let's play fireman game!" and I want to run and hide...or at least hide the fireman so I never have to play this game again. I played it with him during Noah's entire nap yesterday--a full hour and a half--and then Dave came home from work and took over and played at least another 30 minutes. Seriously? Is it really that fun?

NO.

I do not understand the attraction of this game. Plus we went to the library last week and got a bunch of non-fiction train books so that now he uses all the right words: the engine is the locomotive, and the engineer sits in the cab of the locomotive...when there's more than one engine it's called a consist. And on the back of the train is FRED, or the flashing rear end device that Isaac so loves. Although he hasn't figured out that it's just a light yet. When we call it Fred, he thinks there's a person on the back of each train. And he's very particular about whether it's a freight train or a passenger train. I really like that Isaac has a hobby, something he is so passionate about...but I do wish he could be passionate without me sitting by and watching all the time. When do kids learn to play by themselves, anyway? So we sit for hours every day and play this dumb game and I'm so tired of it. Plus it always ends the same way: Noah tries to play with a toy of Isaac's (it doesn't matter what, any toy will do) and Isaac freaks out on him. If he can't share his toys, I won't play the game and we leave his room. Then Isaac throws a fit.

I hate fireman game.

Back to School

Well, school started yesterday and this is a picture of Hannah yesterday morning on her first day of FIRST GRADE. My favorite part of the picture is the glow-in-the-dark reflective strips on her backpack that lit up in the flash! She had to be at her old school (Marek) by 7:15 to catch the bus to take her to her new school (Passmore) which starts at 8:00. The bus driver told CJ that she would get dropped off at Marek after school at 3:10 but she didn't get there until close to 4. When she climbed in the van, she was blinking back tears. I don't know if it was just overwhelming or too long of a first day back after summer or what but it was breaking my heart. She's loving the bus though and is happy to have a friend from our ward in her class. And she was impressing us at dinner last night with all the Spanish words she learned. She's going to do great!

little stinker

A few minutes ago I noticed these strange spots on Isaac's cheek. What could it be? A rash? Bug bites? Hmmm...a mystery. I thought it was so strange how symmetrical the spots were. How could a rash be symmetrical? And then I realized...this morning I was in my room when I heard Isaac say "Ow, stop hitting me Noah! Ow! OW!" and he started to really cry, much harder than you would expect a 3 year old to cry when an 11 month old hits. I came out to see Noah holding my brush and assumed Noah had whacked Isaac with it, but I still thought Isaac was overreacting just a bit.

I took it away and gave Noah a "time out" (really, what can you do to an eleven month old? I put him in his room, and he crawled right back out). So what are those symmetrical spots? Brush marks. OUCH. Noah is such a stinker. He hits all the time. How do you discipline him at his age? Poor Isaac.

the move

Now that we're (mostly) settled in, I thought I'd do a moving post. It was a pain. A huge pain. But we're here and we're happy. Here are a few pictures of the big day:

Noah loved playing in the boxes. Isaac did too, but somehow I don't have a picture of that.

Our amazing helpers:

My dad and Dave (notice the sweaty shirt...it was hot.)

Dave's brother Scott coming out of Noah's room,

our awesome home teachers Blake and John, who came up from Draper to help us unload. They were done right as I drove up (nice, huh?) and it was amazing how fast they were. I am going to miss them. Any of you single ladies out there, they are the best guys I know. Someone needs to snatch them up!

and finally, Isaac climbed up and slid down our new kingsize bed for like an hour. It was hilarious. And dangerous. And he was filthy by the time he was done. But he was having fun on moving day at least!

At last!

our computer is set up. we are connected to the internet. it's a beautiful thing. just LOOK at the 22 inch LCD flat screen! it's amazing!!! the best picture i've ever seen! it's so much fun. and it works as a tv and dvr too, so now when isaac wants to watch a movie, we can still watch our shows. and it all sits atop our new $39 computer desk from (where else?) IKEA. this is very exciting. let the blogging begin (again). any advice on what to do with all those unsightly cords?

BYU

It's no secret that I love BYU. I truly think it's the greatest place on earth. No offense to those who didn't attend or don't like the school, it's just my own personal opinion that there's no better place to be. I think of my time at BYU as some of the best years of my life, and every time I go back I feel like I'm going home. Here's a video that BYU produced that gives me chills. If you don't like BYU, don't watch it.

Karma

I never wrote thank you notes after my wedding. I know, it's the cardinal sin of marriage. I am an ungrateful, terrible person. I am well aware of this. I feel truly terrible about this. But I was 21, a newlywed, still in school, and working. It was a busy time and, frankly, I'm lazy. I've tried to repent of this by writing thank you notes for everything now. I wrote thank yous from my bridal shower, baby showers, for birthday and Christmas gifts, I wrote thank you notes to everybody in the ward who helped us move...I wrote a thank you note to my grocer for carrying out my groceries...I've written a thank you note to Draper city for having such a great park...I've written thank you notes to people for sending me thank you notes...okay those last few were sarcastic but I truly have changed my ways and I write lots of thank yous now. But, as they say, payback is a ...terrible thing.

In preparation to move I was going through our boxes of wedding presents that we never used in our first apartment and definitely didn't use while living with mom and dad, I found a pretty vase in a box, and a homemade cookbook was stuffed inside as well. This was from the Larkins. Dave's best friend growing up was Chris Larkin (the guy who created the Guitar Hero game). This gift was from their family, and as I start going through the cookbook, a check falls out. A $50 check. Seriously? It's dated August 24, 2001. As you all know, checks are only good for a year so this is way expired...but it would be really easy to change a "1" to a "7", wouldn't it? But since I never thanked them for it and I'm not a thief or a liar, I'll put the check in our wedding memory book as a reminder that you must write thank you notes, or karma will bite you in the tush.

I'M SORRY I DIDN'T WRITE THANK YOU NOTES. I WAS VERY GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL AND GENEROUS GIFTS I RECEIVED..

So this is karma telling me I am a terrible person...something I already knew. But I still have the list of who gave us what, and after this I just may get that list out and start writing thank yous this week. Is it 6 years too late???

Hiking in Utah

View of Little Cottonwood Canyon from trail to Red Pine Lake

I went for a hike on Monday, so I thought I would send a couple pictures on before my surgery tomorrow morning. I really love to hike – I enjoy the solitude and the beauty- it just rejuvenates me, and I decided I might not get another chance this summer after the doctors get through with me. One of my favorite hikes of last year was to Red Pine Lake, up the south side of Little Cottonwood Canyon. It is about 4 mile hike (each way) and I decided to also hike on up to Upper Red Pine Lake since it (supposedly) only another half mile and about 500 feet higher (it took me an hour to go that extra half-mile). Red Pine lake is at 9800 feet elevation and Upper Red Pine lake is at 10,300. So, by the time I got back to the truck I had hiked about 10 miles with about a 3000 foot elevation change so I could really feel it in my legs. I haven’t done enough hiking this year.

(I'll report in when I get home -probably Thursday or Friday- after the surgery)

Upper Red Pine Lake, Elevation 10,300 feet


Moose - Seen On the way home

Red Pine Lake, Elevation: 9800 Feet

One of the streams on the way to Red Pine Lake. You can see why I like this hike.

# 6

Happy Anniversary to me and Dave! Who can believe it's been six years already? That's like more than 1/5 of my life! Crazy. This day six years ago I was very nervous, but very excited. I was actually ready on time but mom wasn't and we were a little late getting to the temple. That made Dave very nervous. In fact, I think his dad started preparing him for me not showing up. Hilarious! But I did. We sat in the Celestial Room waiting to do the veil ceremony, then the sealer (President Pixton) came and talked to us and took us into the sealing room. It was so nice to see all the family (except Delos of course) there, and even some of my friends were there. My wedding dress was so gigantic that when I sat down I slammed the chair against the wall. So embarrassing. I had also had ACL surgery just a few weeks before so I didn't actually kneel completely...my right leg was stuck out behind me at an awkward angle. But, we got married, and it's worked out pretty great so far!

First Day of School

Wednesday was Luke's first day of Kindergarten. The first day parents go with and the kids only stay for about 30 minutes, so no big deal. But then Thursday comes. I'm feeling a little nervous but think I can make it through okay. We park and get out of the car and start walking towards the kindergarten play area and his little grip on my hand gets tighter and tighter the closer we get and by the time we are to the gate at the entrance he's tugging me the other direction with a look of sheer terror in his eyes. I keep telling him I'll go with him to his door and stay until the bell rings but he's not budging. I finally have to literally drag him through the gate. He realizes nobody's going to attack him and decides he'll slowly come along. We set his backpack down in the line of backpacks in front of the door to his class and he tentatively steps towards the playground. Then the bell rings. All of the kids line up at the door, Luke is at least 6 inches shorter than anyone else and just looks so tiny and vulnerable. The teacher comes out and tells them to come inside. They follow her in and I want to go too, I know I can't, but I want to. The door closes and I think, whew I made it. But then before I can get away, a lady from my ward walks by and says "Hey, how are you," seemingly harmless, I know, but as I open my mouth to say "fine" what comes out is a high-pitched "okay" and then the tears start to fall. By the time I get to the van, with what seems like hundreds of compassionate stares following me, I'm sobbing. It's so hard to let go a little bit when I've been the one solely taking care of him for so long. It feels sad that that stage of life is over and this new one is beginning where there are so many other influences on him. I can only pray I've prepared him and can be in tune to what he needs to succeed. Mostly I miss him. And it's only a half-day! Just imagine me when he starts 1st grade.

Update from Texas

Well, here in Texas, we're anxiously awaiting tomorrow's highly anticipated "High School Musical 2." We're having a party (pizza, carmel popcorn...) and wish we had some family nearby to invite. We've been watching the first one to get ourselves in the mood.
Meanwhile, Erin was downgraded to a "tropical depression" and is DUMPING rain on us today- we could get up to 10 inches! There's a near-constant rumbling of thunder and it's just pouring so it looks like we'll stay home today although I'm starting to panic about Hannah's lack of decent school shoes. I may have to order some online and just be done with it. Click below to see my top choice (although the price is obviously a factor...) http://www.skechers.com/catalog/browse.do?function=displayProductList&gender=G&catId=-1&index=0&viewAll=true&sort=popular&prodId=21953&styleCode=82645
And Dean is picking up steam and was upgraded to a hurricane overnight when it reached 74+ mph winds. We're keeping an eye on it mostly because Hannah is obsessed with hurricanes. Right now it's threatening the Caribbean but it could head into the Gulf where we would definitely want to know where it heads or makes landfall. Who knows? Maybe we'll be evacuating next week... although CJ is quick to remind me that even if Houston experienced a direct hit from a category 5 hurricane, we do not live in a mandatory evacuation zone. So maybe I'll be evacuating with the kids, while he sticks around to brave the storm...
I also had to include this picture of Rachel taken Sun. morning before church. I was getting some things ready for the church bag and she grabbed this apple and started chewing on it. It was so cute!
And last but not least, Hannah started piano lessons on Tuesday morning and is so excited she can hardly stand it. She LOVES to practice (let's all hope that lasts!) and is eagerly waiting for school to start. She had a date with mom on Saturday and chose to go to the dollar store and get a haircut. She told the beautician she wanted her hair "as short as her ears." So while I sat there watching, I realized I am a true child of the 80's with an irrational love for long hair. I wouldn't have asked for her hair to be that short, but she LOVES it and she's received lots of compliments over the past few days. She's really growing up.

And that's the latest from Texas! See ya'll later!

3 Ways to Stay Cool this Summer

1. Play in the Nemo Sprinkler:2. Eat a popsicle (and hold it with your bare hands! Brrrrr!):

3. My favorite--Spray yourself in the face with the hose. Hilarious!

I love Bumble and bumble.

I love Bumble and bumble hair products.

Since we no longer have soft water, my hair is dry and frizzy and terrible.

Bumble and bumble to the rescue!

I seriously love it. My hair has never felt softer.

I used it after Isaac was born for a while but stopped when it got too expensive. It's still too expensive, but I'm just using it this one time while my hair gets used to hard water again. Then it's back to grocery store shampoo. But in the meantime, I'm loving my hair again!

Right now I'm using Gentle Shampoo, Super Rich conditioner, Tonic spray, Styling Spray, and Defrizz. Not at the same time, mind you, just one of those on the days I decide to actually do my hair. And the sprays I already had from my previous Bb usage a few years ago. But even a few years old, they work great! I especially love Defrizz. It works as a styling lotion and a shine enhancer. So if you're on the lookout for good hairproducts, look no further. I love Bumble and bumble.

I'm still alive...barely

I really have nothing to say but am suffering major internet/blog withdrawal, so you get a post from me while I'm at the library having a break. Noah is a total mess. He cries all day and all night. He hates our new house. I'm starting to like it, if I could just get the last few boxes unpacked and some decorations on the walls...oh, and some new blinds. The ones in front of the sliding glass door don't work at all and every time Isaac hears a train he has to go out and see it. This happens about 3 or 4 times an hour. Awesome. Dave and I have a bet on when he'll get sick of going out to see them. I say never. But we did go swimming twice today. It was the only time Noah wasn't crying. Isaac is pretty happy, especially with the trains, his new playhouse bed, and the pool. We'll go to our ward this Sunday (we tried last Sunday but didn't get to the right building...they just built a new one and we're in the new one, but went to the old one). A lady at the pool today is in our ward and she said they'll probably get a new bishopric in the next few weeks. Awesome. Maybe we'll wait a few weeks before we actually make it to the right ward. The best part about the move so far? Our new KING-SIZE bed. Pictures to come. I love it. Thanks Mom!

My latest project...

So, for some reason, I decided I needed a project to work on while CJ was in Alaska and I chose to work on my dining room. We already had a rug (I wanted to do this room in greens but the rug was a GREAT deal) and the table and chairs. After I started taping, I realized I needed a few "Before" pictures so you could see the difference a little paint would make.
We don't use this room very often. We usually eat Sunday dinner in here and when we've had a few people over for dinner. So I've decided that for us at least, formal dining rooms are a waste of space.
Anyway, here are a few "After" shots. If you can't tell, the paint is two different colors - the top one is a little bit lighter than the bottom. I'm really happy with how it turned out and it was almost worth all the trouble it was to paint it.
I had to get my babysitter to come over and play with the kids on the last day of painting though because all their "help" was driving me nuts! I especially like the curtains and those were fun to hang up (and a lot easier than the painting). I'm still looking for some hold-backs for the curtains and maybe a mirror or something else for the walls, but essentially, this room is now done.
Maybe we'll use this room more often now, but if not, it looks a little better and it's one of the first things you see when you come in our front door. I guess we'll fix the house up just the way we want it and then put it on the market like we did with our last house. Maybe if I hurry, we can be gone in a year or so. Now on to the master bath and bedroom!

BOYCOTT U-HAUL!!!

We moved yesterday. Thank goodness that's over. But now I'm calling for a boycott on U-Haul. I called and reserved a truck over a week ago and used my credit card to reserve it to make sure it would be there. Dad and Dave showed up at 9:00 to pick it up and they didn't have it. They said to go to West Jordan to pick one up. Too bad that's about 20 miles away and our Elders' Quorum had already showed up to pack us up. So they proceeded to West Jordan to get our truck. The men had all of our stuff out in the driveway before they got here. They told us they had called us the day before to tell us that we would have to go to WJ but we never had a call. Anyway, later that day Dad tried to call and talk to a manager about it to get some sort of reimbursement (especially since they charged us extra for having to drive the 20 miles from WJ to our house in Draper). My dad called the regional manager and told her that we had never received a call. The REGIONAL MANAGER said "I'm not going to argue with you. We texted 4087 (our number) and 4097 (my parents number) on Friday." My dad said "Can I tell you something?" and she said "I'm not going to argue with you" and HUNG UP ON HIM. My dad tried to call back to tell her that both of those phone numbers are LANDLINES, not cell phones, so a text would have done us no good, but she HUNG UP ON HIM AGAIN. This is the Utah manager of all U-Hauls. You have got to be kidding me. Who hangs up on anyone, let alone a customer??? That is just no way to do business. We'll go over her head to somebody in U-Haul who believes a business should not be run that way and get our money back, but I can guarantee I'll never use U-Haul again. And you shouldn't either.

Our week without Daddy

While CJ is enjoying a week of fishing at Doc Warners in Alaska, I have been home, trying to entertain 3 constantly bored and argumentative and teasing children. It sounds like CJ is having the time of his life - if you're interested, check out the website http://www.docwarners.com/. It has been a dream of his for a long time and I know he's probably loving it. Here are some of the ways we're spending our time while he's gone...
Thank goodness for Cinemark's $1 kid movies this summer. We had season passes last year but this year it has been hit & miss. Anyway, we just saw "Hoodwinked" and it was a major success around here. It's a pretty cute show and I love ANYTHING with a Patrick Warburton voice - this time he plays the big bad wolf.
Hoodwinked opened the world of "Little Red Riding Hood" to Charlie who has spent half of the week with a red dishtowel over his head & pinned under his chin (yes, even in public!) despite the fact that grandma Larson MADE a red riding hood for Hannah. Charlie is NOT ALLOWED to touch Hannah's things in case anyone was wondering. Anyway, we made a trip to the library and came home with two versions of the story but this one is Charlie's favorite.
We have also spent lots of rainy hours in Hannah's room playing Polly Pocket. In each game, Hannah plays the main character and I play her sister. The first night, we dress up and go to a ball where Hannah's girl meets the man of her dreams and gets engaged. Then we go home and wake up on her wedding day and she moves in with her new husband (and takes all the good furniture and dresses. Oh yeah, and all the pets too...) Day 3 is usually her baby shower where I give her a crib, stroller and high chair and then she immediately goes into labor. Sometimes, we even make it to day 4 - a day at college.
I also spent the afternoon at a local putt-putt type place yesterday. We only played inside since it's too hot and humid to do anything outdoors. I spent $13 (all the cash in my wallet) on tokens and let the kids play skee-ball and air hockey and rack up all the tickets they could which they then used to buy prizes - really neat treasures that will probably become the next Wolf Family Heirlooms. We ate at IHOP afterwards and Charlie wolfed (no pun intended) down 2 pancakes. All that air hockey can really work up an appetite! We've also played a lot of Harry Potter Uno - just like the original but it includes an Invisibility Cloak that gets you out of drawing 4 or being skipped or whatever and a Howler card where the other players have to tell you all the cards in their hand.
And I taught the kids "Old Maid" too. Of course, we've also spent a few afternoons at the neighborhood pool and I've been working on my lesson for RS this Sunday too. And did I mention that I painted and hung curtains and pictures in the dining room? All in all, it's been a good week, but I can't wait for CJ to get home. I think it's HIS turn to play Polly Pocket's sister and then read "Red Riding Hood" about 10 times in a row. I'll be taking a nap!

Yao - zers

Well, I recently went shopping at Nordstrom (no big surprise there eh?) and I had my first Houston Celebrity Sighting. There I was debating whether or not I really needed aqua-blue criss-cross platform shoes (they were seriously the cutest shoes I've EVER tried on and on sale too) and suddenly there he was...

YAO MING

It was pretty exciting. There were a lot of people asking him for autographs I guess, or maybe that crowd around him was his entourage - who knows? I just kind of felt sorry for him that he couldn't even shop in peace. Then again, he's pretty hard to miss since most people only come up to his elbow. The important thing? I passed on the platforms...

Luau

The Larson family reunion was this past weekend--the big one with Grandpa's brothers and sisters where we don't know anybody. Friday night was the luau, which was actually really fun. The cousin in charge this year hired professional entertainment and I thought it was pretty cool. They even changed outfits several times! I don't know how those ladies move their bodies like that. The best part was when they came out and got Delos to come up on stage with them. Hilarious.

Yep, that's me up on stage. I was forced, and I do mean forced. It was supposed to be mom, but she wouldn't go, so that's me up there with all those old guys.

Here's the hula girls shakin' it

They did a Hawaiian love song, so here's Delos and Misty dancing and Alex and David bustin' a move too.

Dave, Misty & Mom, Delos & Noah partying