Daddy's school

Today we went to the Elementary School where Jethro is doing his internship. They are a year-round school so they are still in session. Tomorrow is their last day for 3 weeks so today they had a Field Day. I thought that it was a great opportunity for the girls to see their day since they don't usually unless they wake up early in the morning. It was pretty hot, but luckily the wind was blowing. Katya and Cali loved all the attention they got from the teachers and the students.

My man at his school

I love how much Katya totally adores Jethro

7 months old

I just can't help but post a picture of how cute Cali is. She is 7 months old and growing so fast. I just love having her in our family.

Fun times

Jethro scored some tickets to the playoffs for the Utah Blaze (arena football). We had a lot so we invited friends. Jethro's brother Gideon just got engaged to a fabulous girl named Becky. We were able to meet her for the first time this weekend when they came to the game with us. Based on the couple of hours we spent at the game, she seems like a fabulous girl and I'm glad Gideon found someone who compliments him so wonderfully. Congrats Becky and Gideon and welcome to the family.

Becky, Gideon, Jethro, Brad, Aaron and Chelsea

Heather, Staci, Becky, and Gideon

"They Might Be Giants"

My sister stopped by on Friday with my new nephew. He is almost 8 weeks old and I was finally able to meet him. Katya loved seeing a baby and Cali didn't mind that I was holding a baby. Taylor is so tiny. I can't believe it. I guess my kids might be giants.

Why am I so excited for this week?

1. We got to go see Jethro at his school today
2. I get to watch my niece
   
3. It's not going to snow
4. 4th of July
5. The summer is one week closer to being done
6. Our garden keeps growing
7. Get to hang out with a really good friend while Jethro's at school
8. I'm starting the second half of Don Quixote and can't wait till it's done
9. Have something new to keep me busy
10. One week closer to going down to see Megan
11. We have ice cream sandwiches
12. Yummy apples
13. My kids are so stinkin' cute!
    

What we've been up to....

I found a couple of pics from the last week or so that I didn't post, so here's a little catch up.

I took the girls out to swim. It was Cali's first time and for the most part she liked it.

What a cutie!

Went to the zoo with my good friend Heather. It's nice to get out with friends
during the day.

Cute girls love to be together.

Why am I so excited for this week?

1. My house is clean right now.
   
2. No snow this week.
3. Katya's starting to walk.
   
4. I'm not sick anymore from my darn cold.
5. Relief Society Picnic
6. I have fun things to do.
7. Friday is only 4 days away.
8. Friends wedding reception on Friday
9. Budget
10. Grocery Shopping
11. Jethro's getting closer to finishing at BYU.
    

Bottles

After waiting nearly 2 years for Katya to be able to feed herself, I must admit it is very nice that Cali has learned to feed herself after just 6 months. It is so nice to be able to set her on the floor and let her feed herself. Because this...

Cali:1 month
Katya: 20 months

...was not fun.

Cali has really not been that bad, though. She eats a 7-ounce bottle in about 8 minutes. Not bad. Katya would eat a 7-ounce bottle in about 35 minutes. That got very annoying. From the very beginning, it amazed us how fast Cali ate. It still does.

Funny side note: Staci must have wanted to blog about this too, because when I imported the top picture, there were more than I had taken, and there was different stuff around Cali, even though she happened to be in the same spot.

Another funny side note: As I am typing, Katya and Cali are "sharing" the same toy, and Cali keeps looking at Katya and laughing, and then Katya looks at Cali and laughs. Such cutie-pies!

Every Day is Father's Day

I know that Sunday was the official Father's Day and that I didn't do a blog post in honor of Jethro, but I want him to know that every single day I think that he is the best husband and father, not just on the official holiday.

Jethro, you do so much for me. You are wonderful beyond words. You make me so happy. I could never be this happy without you. You make every day bright. You make every moment exciting. You love me for who I am. You encourage me to be great and do great things. Even if I think I fail, you help me to understand that I didn't fail, there is just a different and better way to do it. You work so hard to take care of me and give me all that I need. You even take care of a sick me on your special day. I love you so much and am so happy to have you as my husband.

You are the best dad. When the only sound/noise that our 2 girls will make is "da-de", I know that they absolutely adore you and think the world of you. You support me in my parenting kills and help me discover new and better ones. They love you for you. They love it when you walk in the door and I love seeing their faces light up when daddy comes home. They love it when you read stories to them and when you talk and lay with them. They love you so much and so do.

May you realize every day that you are a wonderful husband and father and that we feel so happy and blessed to have you.

What do I do with a radish?

I know radishes go in salads, but I have never been a fan of them. We were giving a bunch of radishes from a friend and I didn't want to waste them. I searched on allrecipes.com and found the perfect recipe.

Radish Dip

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 radishes, quartered
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

DIRECTIONS

1. Place garlic in the container of a food processor, and pulse until finely minced. Add radishes, and mince. Add cream cheese, and mix until well blended. Transfer to a serving dish, and chill until serving.

Finished product

It had rave reviews so I gave it a try. It was so easy to make and was so yummy. I can't get enough of it. I love it. I know have a yummy, usual use for radishes.

Give it a try and tell me what you think.

I don't know why...

I don't know why my little Cali sleeps like this. She rolls over on her stomach and goes to sleep just like this every time.She just buries her face, almost like she's mad at us and crying.

She has super cute feet. I love them.

One afternoon Cali woke up from her nap with sheet marks
on her face and her little hand print on her chest. So funny!

Catch-up

I'm using Jethro's work computer so I've had to figure out how to get pics off our camera and on to the computer. It's taking me awhile so now I can finally share them.

Cali is getting so big and developing a really cute personality. She loves to play and is so much fun. She rolls over now(just one way) and can sit up all by herself. Here is a super cute pictures from last week.

I Didn't Think it Would Happen this Soon.

Watch the video, 'nuff said:




The other day, we took video of her cruising along the couch. Today, Staci helped her walk behind the Pooh car and now, she is already walking all the way across our living room without help from us. She has pretty good posture when walking, too, which is a really good sign. I sure hope that she will start walking on her own, soon. That will be so great. I think that it will still take a while for her to get the balance and coordination down, but she can do it. We are seriously amazed at how fast she picks things up once we show her how to do it. She is such a cutie.

Also, the DDI nurse came by today and said that she has reached nearly all of her milestones, so she is developmentally doing great. She still doesn't say more than "dad" but what little daddy's girl needs more than that?

Happy Father's Day!

I know I'm a day late, but everyday we should be able to celebrate how grateful we are to have father's.

Happy Father's Day Dad!




Happy Father's Day Reuel!
(I don't have an updated pic of you.)

Quit distracting her and she might pass

Last Thursday I took Katya up to the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) Clinic at Primary Children's for a check on her hearing and to see how her tubes from last year were doing. I always dread going there because the doctors always run late and it takes forever. Katya needed a hearing test upstairs in the audiology department so after checking in in the clinic we headed up. We had to wait a good 15 minutes which makes us late for our appointment with the doctor. When one person runs late, it makes everything run late. So we finally got back to get her hearing tested. Katya hates people touching her ears and fights and screams. They had to put things in her ears and she just kept trying to yank them out with her hands and her feet. It took a while to do the test because of that. We then had to go into a sound-proof booth. I sat in a chair in the center of the room with Katya on my lap facing the corner. Right in front of us in the corner was an audiology intern no more than 2 feet away. On my right and on my left in the corner sat 2 speakers and 2 TVs. Also in the room between the intern and the speaker on my right sat a double sided mirror. They would ply sounds through the speakers and then turn the t.v. on an off to see if she looked at it. Katya was doing so good, until the intern started making faces at her. Hello?! That is so distracting to my daughter. How is she supposed to listen for sounds when she is too busy laughing! Katya also noticed the mirror. If anyone has seen Katya play with a mirror it is hilarious. She loves looking in them. She will sit there forever looking at herself. No joke. It's hard to distract her when is is enthralled by her appearance. She sees this mirror and stares at herself and starts making faces and talking to herself and laughing. Another distraction. This of course is at the part in the test where you have to be really quiet to hear the noises because they are so soft and low.

You'd think that they would try to keep the distractions at a minimum when doing a hearing test. No interns making funny faces and no huge mirrors to admire yourself in.

On a side note, Katya did not pass her hearing test, her tubes fell out, and she has fluid in her ears. We get to go back in 6 weeks to sit through a wonderfully, distracting test again. How fun.

Why am I so excited for this week?

1. Jethro doesn't have to go to Provo
   
2. Nice weather
3. Growing Garden
4. Jethro's done with an important test
5. Zoo on Friday
6. Visiting Teaching tomorrow
7. No more reading Anna Karenina. I finished!
8. Cali sits up by herself now
9. More organized
   

UDSF with VoiceThread

I learned about a new web tool called VoiceThread. Educators get free accounts, so I thought I would give it a try. You can add comments if you would like, you just need a microphone. You just click the Record button below the picture. (If you don't want to talk, you can just type your comment.) I know you have seen these pictures before, but this is just a test. Humor me. Enjoy :).

Growth

I have not shaved for a little over a week. Those in my family know that I am not a very hairy person. In high school people thought that I shaved my legs. In fact, they still do. When I waxed my legs just before Christmas, all the students thought that I had shaved my legs before so that it wouldn't hurt so bad. Not true. This picture (warning: viewer discretion is advised) shows that I have a very diverse (allbeit small) collection of hair on my upper lip. Good thing God invented high-powered microscopes that can plug into a computer and take a picture like this (click to enlarge, if you are a sadist).



That brown may be more red than brown, but I certainly would not want to admit that.

You can see by this picture that there is very little hair on my face. I don't think I will ever be able to grow anything more than an Abraham Lincoln beard.

Sisterly Love

I love watching the girls play together and see the sister relationship develop. Cali is getting to the point where she wants to play with Katya. Katya is getting to the point where she is getting nicer to Cali and will bring her toys to play with. They are just so cute together and it really makes me smile to see them play together.

New Carousel

They have a new carousel at the zoo that opened on Saturday. I thought Katya would love it so I took her on it. I was wrong. She hated it! She wanted me to take her off. I got on with her and that calmed her down a bit. She was happier when she started moving. When it was done, she was so ready to get off. Maybe we'll try it again some other day.

UDSF Luau

Friday we went to a wonderful Luau put on by the Salt Lake Chapter of UDSF. It was so much fun. Katya totally loved being around all those other people. The food was so yummy and the entertainment was great. We were able to meet other families who have kids with Down Syndrome It was fun and we really enjoyed making new friends.

Our entertainment. There was also dancing. It was awesome.

Katya and her new friend Bree. They are both so cute!

Jethro participated in the dancing.

Cali's 6 Month Check-up

Cali had her 6 month check-up last Wednesday and let me tell you, she is huge (well, compared to Katya)! She weighed in at 20 pds. 10 o. and is 28 inches tall. Let me just say that she loves to eat, but don't worry she eats every 4 hours so I'm not forcing her to eat a ton. She is now big enough to ride in a forward facing car seat and really enjoys it.

This is how Cali sits most of the time and it's hilarious!

Last Day of School!

I know I am a week behind, but I still need to blog about it. Jethro had his last day of school on June 4th. He was so happy. Let's just say that the second year of teaching went so much better than the first. Since Jethro didn't have a any students and only had to go part of the day, he decided to take Katya with him and she couldn't be happier. She had a horrible night's sleep but she woke up early and was so happy to be going with her daddy.

She had a big smile on her face as she got to ride in Jethro's car. She waved to me as they were driving away. I had a really proud parent moment as I watched her. I am so proud of her for all that she does and who she is becoming.
When she goes to Jethro's school, she loves to play with his bell. What trip to daddy's school would be complete without it?
She was so happy to be there and Jethro said she did really well and was happy. By the time she got home at 2 she was tired though.
Thanks Jethro for taking her to school with you and thanks Katya for being such a good girl for your daddy.

200 Things

I saw this list on Kristy's blog the other day and now I have time to give it a try. Here's what Kristy has to say about the list:

One of my favorite people in this world that I have never met is Neighbor Jane Payne. She has a weekly newsletter that she writes which is AMAZING and always brightens my day. Some day I will meet her and when I do I know I will cry. A few weeks ago I had a dream about her and I at the Lincoln Memorial and we were picking up trash - weird. She is down right amazing.

Today in her newsletter she had this list of 200 things in honor of her 200th newsletter. (way to go Jane) She invited anyone who wanted to to put them on their blog as a way of journaling some things they have done or not done in their life. Thanks Jane and here is to another 200!"

All you have to do is copy the list and bold what you have done.

200 Have and Have nots!

1. Touched an iceberg

2. Slept under the stars

3. Been a part of a hockey fight

4. Changed a baby's diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Swam with wild dolphins

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a tarantula

10. Said "I love you" and meant it

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise

15. Seen the Northern Lights

16. Gone to a huge sports game

17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight

22. Bet on a winning horse

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Taken an ice cold bath

28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Ridden a roller coaster

31. Hit a home run

32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

33. Adopted an accent for fun

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment

36. Loved your job 90% of the time

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Watched wild whales

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach

41. Gone sky diving

42. Visited Ireland

43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited India

45. Bench-pressed your own weight

46. Milked a cow

47. Alphabetized your personal files

48. Ever worn a superhero costume

49. Sung karaoke

50. Lounged around in bed all day

51. Gone scuba diving

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Done something you should regret, but don't

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Been in a movie

60. Gone without food for 3 days

61. Made cookies from scratch

62. Won first prize in a costume contest

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Been in a combat zone

65. Spoken more than one language fluently

66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone

67. Bounced a check

68. Read - and understood - your credit report

69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy

70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did

71. Called or written your Congress person

72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

74. Helped an animal give birth

75. Been fired or laid off from a job

76. Won money

77. Broken a bone

78. Ridden a motorcycle

79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph

80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing

82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

83. Eaten sushi

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read The Bible cover to cover

86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about

87. Gotten someone fired for their actions

88. Gone back to school (I would definitely like to do this someday)

89. Changed your name

90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands

91. Eaten fried green tomatoes (maybe I'll try this this fall)

92. Read The Iliad (it's on my list)

93. Taught yourself an art from scratch

94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt

96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

97. Been elected to public office

98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream

99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you

101. Had a booth at a street fair

102. Dyed your hair

103. Been a DJ

104. Rocked a baby to sleep

105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four

106. Raked your carpet

107. Brought out the best in people

108. Brought out the worst in people

109. Worn a mood ring

110. Ridden a horse

111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap

112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe

113. Buried a child

114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play

115. Been inside the pyramids

116. Shot a basketball into a basket

117. Danced at a disco

118. Played in a band

119. Shot a bird

120. Gone to an arboretum

121. Tutored someone

122. Ridden a train

123. Brought an old fad back into style

124. Eaten caviar

125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need

126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant

127. Published a book

128. Pieced a quilt

129. Lived in an historic place

130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage

131. Asked for a raise

132. Made a hole-in-one

133. Gone deep sea fishing

134. Gone roller skating

135. Run a marathon

136. Learned to surf

137. Invented something (does an elementary invention fair count?)

138. Flown first class

139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite

140. Flown in a helicopter

141. Visited Africa

142. Sang a solo

143. Gone spelunking

144. Learned how to take a compliment

145. Written a love-story

146. Seen Michelangelo’s David

147. Had your portrait painted

148. Written a fan letter

149. Spent the night in something haunted

150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane

151. Ran away

152. Learned to juggle

153. Been a boss

154. Sat on a jury

155. Lied about your weight

156. Gone on a diet

157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget

158. Written a poem

159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox

160. Gotten food poisoning

161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission

162. Hiked the Grand Canyon

163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks

164. Gone to the opera

165. Gotten a letter from someone famous

166. Worn knickers

167. Ridden in a limousine

168. Attended the Olympics

169. Can hula or waltz

170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books

171. Been stuck in an elevator

172. Had a revelatory dream

173. Thought you might crash in an airplane

174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert

175. Saved someone’s life

176. Eaten raw whale

177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint

178. Laughed till your side hurt

179. Straddled the equator

180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing

181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival

182. Sent a message in a bottle

183. Spent the night in a hostel

184. Been a cashier

185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

186. Joined a union

187. Donated blood or plasma

188. Built a campfire

189. Kept a blog

190. Had hives

191. Worn custom made shoes or boots

192. Made a PowerPoint presentation

193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course

194. Served at a soup kitchen

195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube

196. Know CPR

197. Ridden in or owned a convertible

198. Found a long lost friend

199. Helped solve a crime

200. Responded to a NJP newsletter