Say Cheese

It's a funny thing, taking family pictures. Especially if you elect to take your own (and don't plan on much editing). The dads are typically grumpy. The kids pull out their weirdest smiles and pull some crazy faces and poses you sometimes have never seen until you're perusing the new batch of photos and you have to do a double take...yup, that's my kid! Then there's mom. When opting for self family portraits it's usually her in charge of the camera...and the smiles...and everyone's hair and outfits looking picture perfect...yet everyone is always smiling as an end result, even if it is only in the picture =)

We went on a quick trip to Blackfoot last weekend but before we left we hurried to capture our family Christmas picture. Not the greatest time to do it but at least now they are done. So, you see our nice little holiday photo at the top of this little blog. Here are two others snapped of our cute little girls-

Thanksgiving-At Last!

We'd been trying to fit a trip in to Texas for quite some time and figured if we didn't get one in soon it wouldn't happen with the new baby coming and other "stuff". After booking our flights (having to pay for 2 kids plus us isn't cheap, people!) there was no turning back; we finally did it. So for Thanksgiving, we spent a week in Texas among friends!
Our flight from SLC was early afternoon on a Monday so we thought it would be in everyone's best interest to drive the 3 hours to Salt Lake on Sunday and let the girls wear themselves out swimming that night. We packed Saturday, went to our 8:00 church Sunday morning and by the time we got home from that we had a mess of snow on our hands. Sandy got everything loaded in the Volvo, we loaded the girls, and were off. Sort of. The car is only as good as the tires in snow...we only made it maybe half a mile down the road, slipping, sliding, and getting stuck once. Now, Sandy is a pro when it comes to driving in snow and can handle any vehicle quite well in any condition, so when he says, "This is not good, let's turn around." you know it's bad. So we turned around, loaded everything in Sandy's truck (with the brand new, awesome tires) and tried again. Much better. We learned a couple of things about Twin Falls that day:
-People think that the snow means get out and drive. We've NEVER seen the city SO BUSY with traffic!
-They are in NO hurry to plow, or sand, or salt...the mess we left was the same when we returned. They didn't get things cleaned up til this week!
We made it to Utah without incident and even got to spend some time with Ty and Laurie, who had just gotten back to Utah themselves from Ty doing is language course in Monterey, CA. The girls really enjoyed their time there; Livi was convinced she would just stay with them and even gave us hugs goodbye and was ready to usher us out the door! Reminding her of the awaiting swimming pool eventually changed her mind-we got to let them splash and swim for quite a while that night. It was nice waking up the next morning not having to rush or worry about breakfast (yay continental breakfasts!). The airport and flight went better than either Sandy or I expected; no problems with TSA and the girls did super on the entire flight! Once we landed and were exiting the plane...oh the humidity! So many people complain about it but I actually really like it. We were trying to leave Dallas right smack dab in the middle of 5:00 rush hour. And in construction. Surprisingly, it still wasn't that bad.
That evening we got to spend our time with our old neighbors and friends, Eddie and Roberta. It was so fun getting to see them again (and the kitty we had to leave behind, the girls LOVED seeing Tori!) Those two are so special to us, and making a drive back from their cabin just to see us was so thoughtful. They fed us dinner, which is when I was reminded how yummy coleslaw is in Texas. Oh MY it tasted good to this pregnant lady! After visiting, and having to talk Livi into coming with us rather than stay with them, we were off to our next stop, the Adams', who were so awesome letting us stay with them the whole time! I'm sure that was more chaos than everyone was used to for a whole week, haha! We made it to Lulu's on Tuesday for lunch, though, much to our disappointment, Hans and Lulu no longer own it. That evening we got to crash a birthday party at the Whitlocks, yet another place Livi was convinced she would stay at. The rest of the time was spent visiting and just hanging out for the most part. Livi started to come down with a cold and all that traveling wasn't as easy as I thought it would be for me so she and I had a down day on Wednesday. Thankfully, she recouped fairly quickly and was back to playing with Eliana and their friend, Riley, in no time. I, however, did not and may have been a bit of a downer some of the time. We still loved our trip and were so glad to see everyone we did. It was good food and GREAT company the whole time! Time is always the enemy, though, and we didn't get to see all the people we've missed, maybe we'll make it down there again...eventually. It was nice to hear of some plans for visits this way and we're looking forward to those!
We were fortunate to have a very uneventful return, aside from me being stuck next to "the fat guy" on the plane. Oh, and the flatulent man across the aisle. And me getting a bit sick on the way home. But other than that =). We are so lucky to have such great little travelers. Both girls surprised us with how well they did the entire trip, even on the way home, which is when things tend to fall apart so easily. And I now have snow tires on my car.
*On a side note-I love the snow! It is so magical and upon landing in SLC it just felt so awesome looking out and seeing it covering the mountains-BEAUTIFUL! White Christmas's are the BEST!! (It's just the driving in it that sucks, haha!)

It's A...

Ha ha, just kidding =)
We reached the half way mark last week and I'm FINALLY feeling half way normal again. The "morning" sickness has subsided almost completely, I don't have the flu anymore, and even though I've had a bit of a cold since September and it seems all I have to do is look at someone sick and I catch what they have, things are going well. There are days I half wish I lived in a bubble, though!
I think one of the best milestones in pregnancy is feeling those little movements. I LOVE it!! It's when I actually start feeling pregnant (in a good way vs just feeling sick) and the little jibs and jabs are so reassuring. We had an ultrasound today and things are right on target for our March 29th due date. Everything is functioning and growing as it should, thank goodness! I will say, though, that of the 3 kids, this one has played the most difficult. This one is perfectly content wrapped up in it's own little ball with the arms hiding the face. The technician managed to get one good shot of the face (and arms), so here it is-

And one more, just cuz with Eli and Livi they always had their hands curled up in fists so I really like this shot-

While I can't say the first half sailed by I do have a feeling the next few months will fly with everything we have going on. I am SO EXCITED!!!

Loose Tooth

*Please ignore the cheesy "I got it on camera!" comment. We were obviously very excited for her =)

Lots and Loads

Lately everyone has been posting, blogging, thinking, saying etc what they are thankful for. While I am thankful for many things, I have been SO grateful for my awesome washer and dryer the last 2 weeks!
A few days before Halloween we ended up taking Livi into the ER. The poor little girl was having an allergic reaction to something...hives all over! She was such a little champ and was polite and cooperative with every doctor that examined her. She was ultimately put on steroids to put a stop to the miserable hives and benadryl to stop the itching (and wow did that knock her out!). She was NOT a fan of the steroids (I wasn't either, I hated the idea of giving them to her but alls well that ends well) and still states, on occasion, that she doesn't ever want her cherry medicine.
We racked our brains trying to come up with something that may have caused the reaction; the only thing we could come up with was laundry soap and fabric softener since I changed brands (over a month previous). That meant re-washing EVERYTHING!! Since then, no problems, so I hope that was it.
About a week later Eli woke up sick. Unfortunately, she was sick BEFORE she made it out of her bed. More laundry. Sandy and I ended up having her sleep with me and Sandy up in her bed so Livi would be able to sleep. She didn't make it to the bathroom once-MORE laundry. We kept her home from school Thursday and Friday so we wouldn't be sharing the love. Sandy ended up coming down with the same bug on Friday but had drill in Salt Lake so he spent the weekend sick, in Salt Lake. I, however, managed to have the same bug all weekend. *let me insert here how thankful I am my parents came over on Saturday to help with the girls, much needed for all 3 of us. And chicken noodle soup always tastes better when someone else makes it!*
I re-washed a bunch of things one more time in hopes of getting rid of any residual germs since Livi hadn't suffered through it yet (not to mention all the Lysol I went through in 5 days!) Then Eli had a relapse Sunday night! ARGH!! So, you guessed it, more laundry! Naturally, Monday was Livi's turn.
We are all on the mend now, so I am very grateful for our health. And a good washer and dryer that could keep up with us.

Trick or Treat

It seems that every year Eliana's excitement for Halloween (or holidays/celebrations in general for that matter) outdoes the previous year's anticipation. She gets SO excited, I love it! What's even better is how contagious it is, especially when it comes to Olivia. They both were so excited for Halloween and were always asking anyone who would listen what they were going to dress up as and then share their costume ideas. Neither of them could wait to wear their costumes and go Trick-or-Treating!
A few days previous to the trunk or treat event our church put on we carved our pumpkins. Neither of the girls hesitated getting right in and cleaning them out, much to our surprise! We even had a baby pumpkin that I didn't plan on carving but Livi had so much fun she insisted that it needed carved, too. Eli wanted to have a scary pumpkin and found a mean, vampire-like face she wanted carved. Livi was too in to the pumpkin guts, or "slimies" as she called them, to care about a face, so we did a couple of simple, cutesy ones too.


They both couldn't wait for the big day to don their costumes . I like to let them choose what they're going to be and pick out their costumes; they are the ones that will be wearing them, after all (I know to some that may seem like an obvious choice but I can't believe how many parents are such perfectionists they can't even let their kids pick)! Eli knew right away what she wanted to be and had a rather specific idea in mind-she wanted to be a Unicorn Rider. Done. Livi was a bit harder, she wanted to be LOTS of things. I thought for sure she'd choose a monster costume since, as far as she's concerned, she's not Livi, but Livi Monster (she introduces herself that way and will correct you otherwise if called something else!). After showing her LOTS of different pictures and giving her different ideas, she ultimately chose to be a Green Crayon. We also let the girls choose what we should dress up like; I think they have as much fun coming up with something for us as they do for themselves! This year Sandy was told he'd be a clown and I was supposed to be a nerd. Not a stretch for me, haha!
We lucked out and had some really nice weather for Trunk-or-Treating and both girls' buckets were so full they didn't even bother going to all the trunks there. There were SO many kids there!! We passed out around 7-8 bags of candy (and some of those were the super-sized bags, and only one piece per kid!) and luckily ran out just as the event was shutting down. That meant the only candy coming home was what the girls got, YAY (although Sandy was disappointed the Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids were all gone).


Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year we had to make it fun for the girls that day, as well. After church (and my sugar CRAZY primary class) we made a day of Halloween movies and treats and, of course, had to have a fun "Monster Guts" dinner, any other day being Spaghetti and some Jello Jigglers. Olivia has been asking every day since Saturday if she can go Trick-or-Treating and, every day, is VERY disappointed she doesn't get to. I love having kids, the holidays are so much more fun, even Sandy's not such a scrooge anymore (he was as excited as the girls to dress up this year!!). So here's to the holiday kick-off! I love this time of year!

For the Birds

I'm not sure if it's just being pregnant or if my taste buds have suddenly changed but I haven't been able to eat store bought tortillas for some time now. They taste so sour and waxy! Well, last week I was craving fajitas and decided to try my hands at making the tortillas myself. WHY didn't I do this sooner?! They turned out so good, and were so easy, that I have no desire to buy them from a store again. As for the tortillas from the store that have been sitting in my fridge, waiting for someone to eat them, they are for the birds.
I looked at several recipes online, watched a few youtube videos, then found a recipe I thought sounded quick and delicious, then, during the process of making them, ended up tweaking the recipe just a bit.

Flour Tortillas

4 cups flour
1 tsp salt (I added another 1/4 tsp)
2 tsp baking powder
2 TBS lard (I used 4 TBS shortening)
1 1/2 cups water (I used warm water)

Whisk the dry ingredients together then add the lard/shortening, mixing with your fingers until the dough is slightly crumbly (this step is why I don't have step by step pics, maybe next time if Sandy is home...). Add the water and mix until the dough comes together, then knead until smooth (I found the dough to resemble a homemade pie crust). Divide the dough into balls (I made mine about the size of a kiwi and allowed the dough to rest 5-10 minutes).
Preheat a large skillet (a griddle works well, too) over medium high heat. Using a well floured surface (I actually didn't need much flour) roll each ball until it resembles a thin, round (haha) tortilla. Place into hot skillet and cook until bubbly on top and just starting to turn golden in spots on the underside. Flip and continue on other side.


Place the tortillas in a warmer (I used a towel inside my warmer to collect any condensation). Best served immediately and warm.

These were a BIG hit with my family, Eli especially loved using them for dessert (spread a little bit of butter on one then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on it, mmmm!). I can't claim they're authentic, nor can I say they're the best out there since I've only tried this one recipe, but I have little motivation to keep searching since we were all so pleased with this recipe.

Better Late than Never

Eliana got to give a talk in Primary (way back in July...I know, I know). She wanted to record it and put it up on here for everyone to see. Since I finally got my laptop and video camera on speaking terms again I can finally post it. Better late than never, I guess.

As Promised...

A couple of posts ago I ended with a photo of Sandy and a turkey at the fair with a promise to upload the video once I got it to work. Well, it's up and working so here it is =)

Survivor

We have a survivor! Eli made it through her first week of Kindergarten (and so did her mom, haha!) We had such a hard time trying to decide if we were going to put her in school this year or wait a year since her birthday is only 9 days before the cut-off date. Ultimately, we were more concerned with her getting bored next year with school if we waited, and even more bored this year with another year of preschool. We're hoping she proves us right with putting her in now, and we have faith in her that she will do awesome!
She was faced with going to a class where she wouldn't know anyone since we moved away from all her preschool friends. There are four other kids her age in primary that are attending kindergarten this year, one goes to another school, there are 2 in the PM session (both in different classes) and 1 that goes to the AM session with Eli, but is in the other class. (What are the odds that ALL 5 would be in different classes?!) Nevertheless, she was excited to go and make new friends; that's my social butterfly!
We all woke up and got ready for her first day; Sandy even got to go! The school began with sort of an open house for the kindergartners and parents to come in and meet the teacher, see the class room and help their child get settled in. We sat with her for a little while before we could bring ourselves to leave but then that inevitable moment came, we said our "see ya laters" and we left our little girl to attend her first day (I, thankfully, was able to make it out of the building before my tears started). I cannot believe how brave little kids have to be! Here we are, throwing her into a situation no amount of preparation can make you feel ready for, leaving her in a place she's unfamiliar with and with unfamiliar people to top it off. And we expect her to be fine! But she was!! She's done well being away from mom and dad for quite some time now but it still didn't stop me from being concerned she'd get upset at some point like so many of the other kids were in her class. I spent the rest of the morning highly anticipating going to pick her up to hear how she did. When I finally got to it was a happy moment; she enjoyed her first day! I asked her how she did and she about broke my heart when she replied with, "Well, my eyes started to fill up with water but I was brave, Mom!" She wouldn't even allow herself to think she was crying. I borrowed an idea I've heard a few other moms do and made her a little pocket sized heart so when she was nervous or sad all she had to do was check her heart and remember her mom and dad love her. She only had to use it once that day. Here's a couple of pictures of our brave little kindergartner!




I had high hopes the second day would go as well as the first. The hardest part then was how the school starts their day. Maybe this is how it is at most schools now, I dunno, but it's not what I expected for kindergartners I guess. They have all the kids, grades K-5, start out on the playground before school. It was pandemonium that day! Kids were everywhere, some crying, some going nuts with their newly found freedom, and lots of concerned parents (good, I wasn't alone!). I found this to be a bit much mixing them ALL up like that when some were so new and still didn't know how things worked. So, like any over-protective parent would, I opted to stay until the teachers came and took them to class. Apparently there's a bell that rings when it's time to line up with your class, I didn't hear it, and have yet to hear it. But, somehow, some of the kids knew it was time to line up. I watched Eli from a distance; then we "concerned parents" intervened and helped the rest of the kids realize it was time to line up. But then-where do they line up?! Neither of the kindergarten classes seemed to know where to go, but one of the 2 teachers was outside assisting with that so, finally, that was figured out and she was off to her second day of class. The third and fourth day went fairly similar, and by the fourth I was only walking her back to the playground, then leaving. I should have stayed on the fifth day! Friday started as the rest of the days had, I'd left her with a couple of her friends and had just gotten home when my phone rang. The school was trying to get a hold of me because of an accident on the playground; Eli had a monkey bar mishap :'( . Sandy rushed out the door to her rescue but we ended up having her miss the day of school to take her to the dentist! The poor girl knocked some of her top teeth loose! We figured the dentist would just tell us her teeth would fall out anyways and to watch them, but we decided to error on the side of caution, just in case. That's just what he told us though, so she simply ended up with her first absence and a really sore mouth. I was worried this little ordeal would mar the whole school experience and she wouldn't want to go any more but today she proved me wrong. She woke up ready to go, albeit a bit more cautious of the playground. I'm so proud of my little big girl!




P.S. Her teeth are tightening back up-so no toothless smile, yet =)

The Fair, Parade, and a Barrel Train

For the opening day of the Eastern Idaho State Fair there is always a parade. This year Eli's and Livi's Grandpa Lilya entered his barrel train in the parade; our girls were two of the lucky riders (among lots of other cousins). We figured it would be too long of a ride for Livi to ride the whole time, we were afraid she'd get bored, so we kept her with us, sat at the parade half point, and when the train arrived at our location she got to ride with Eli for the rest of the parade. They both had so much fun, in spite of the heat and the crowd.

I just thought this was a cute picture of Livi-it must have been when the fire truck was passing

And here's part of the train, Eli's in the pink shirt

That's Grandpa driving the train

It's hard to tell but Livi is sitting next to Eli in this picture. You can also see the entire train, if only in part.

After the parade was over we headed to the fair. I think we spent most of our time looking at the animals; I know that was both of the girls favorite part. Livi was particularly fond of the pigs and Eli fell in love (again) with the rabbits. At one point we almost ended up with a third child. Livi saw a baby who was just a few months old and fell in love with it. The mother was nice enough to let Livi give the baby a hug but then Livi refused to let go and started insisting it was her baby. She really wanted to take it home! Hopefully that's a good sign for whats to come! We took them through the petting zoo, which was sort of a let down to me since the only animals they had to pet and feed were goats. The girls didn't mind, though, and loved letting them eat out of their hands. Livi really liked them and even tried picking them up to hold them a few times.

By the end of the day we were so hot and tired we opted for some delicious Reed's Dairy Ice Cream, well, except Eli, who has a weakness for cotton candy! We sat in the Dairy Pavilion, my old stomping ground. It ended up being a wise choice saving this for last since it ended up being so messy. Then the girls got to run loose in the show arena for a while before we made one more round through the horses and pigs and headed home. As always, we had a great time at the fair and were glad Grandpa and Grandma got to go with us. They seemed to enjoy themselves as well, though I do feel bad since Livi was such a Grandma's Girl and my mom ended carrying her most of the day. So thanks for your help mom and dad! And I can hardly wait until next year to enjoy the fair, and my ultimate favorite fair food, the Teriyaki Chicken and Ham Fried Rice again--YUMMM-O!!

I saved this picture for last mostly because there's a story that goes with it. Unfortunately, my computer isn't recognizing my video camera at the moment so the story will have to wait until I get that working. I guess that means there's another fair post coming eventually, but, suffice it to say, for now, that Sandy and the turkey in the picture ended up drawing quite the crowd!

Whose Purse?

I bought a new purse last week (my new fetish this year has been purses). Really lovin it, but haven't gotten to use it yet. I didn't even have it out of the packaging yet when Livi decided it was her purse. She's pretty cute with it, carrying it around throughout the day saying, "Got my purse." And when we go anywhere, that's what she grabs, then proceeds to find me another purse to use, brings it to me and says, "This YOUR purse." and usually follows that statement with, "This MY purse, K?" (Like she's giving me an option, lol!). I even went and dug out an older purse I don't use much, it was even PINK, and she declined. So here's Livi with my her purse. (And, yes, she even puts things inside it. Today's item, a pink teddy bear.)

Pity, Party of One?

Hey, you've been warned...

It pretty much sucks having your hubby gone so much. Him not making/receiving any phone calls or emails since he's "in the hills". Being given not so much a date of return but more of a general, "you can expect me home sometime between this date and this date, IF all goes well." And having the girls ask every day when dad's coming home from work and having to answer with, "I don't know." They're tired of the "All Mom, All the Time" routine. So am I. I'm hoping this little peanut is thriving cuz I sure don't feel like I am. This go 'round is kickin my butt. Here's to hoping it gets better in a few weeks when I hit the second tri mark. I hate my neighbors. Seriously, if I want to listen to music I'll turn on my radio. I've got my own kids to hear, I don't wanna hear yours over top of them. Keep them out of my driveway and away from my car. And enough with the smoking and trash. Or, at the very least, keep it in your house, not in your yard which then ends up in my yard. *it's only temporary, it's only temporary* Laying alone in bed at night and hearing all the "bumps in the night" is not conducive to a good nights sleep, let alone my anxiety level. I've thought about all the possible scenarios, escape routes, and plans of attack. Yes, there are some nights I am a little paranoid.

Not to say Sandy has it easy being gone so much, but this is my pity party and I'll cry if I want to.

My Cup Runneth Over (and so is my blog today!)

August has been a pretty quiet month here. Spending nearly 2 1/2 weeks in bed isn't my idea of fun but thats how the first of the month panned out for me. Unfortunately, the house is still showing signs of those 2 1/2 weeks hahaha! And, I had to remove our cruise countdown from my blog; we're faced with canceling our cruise :(
All that makes August sound kinda rotten but really, things are going great for us, honest!
Aside from Eli's birthday party, and Sandy's birthday today, here's what we've been up to-

9 weeks

Baby # 3 for the Lilya's will be here around the 29th of March!! We got to have an ultrasound today (happy birthday Sandy! good gift huh?!) and everything is looking good. We are beyond excited, especially now that my "morning sickness" has subsided some. Livi is young enough that she hasn't quite grasped what is going on--yet. I'm sure all that will change once the baby is actually here and her little world is turned upside down. Eli is ecstatic! She can't wait to have another brother or sister. The concept of time will be the hardest part for her; right now she is constantly asking how big the baby is and how it's doing, whether it's eyes are open yet, if it can laugh...it's been fun! She is disappointed about not going on the cruise but has decided that we will still be going to Disneyland, even if it's not til after the baby is here. I can handle that. This will be a new experience for me, pregnancy in the winter, maybe it'll be easier to find clothes I can actually wear! So there's our big news, finally out in the open!

Hau'oli lā hānau Eli!

For Eli's 5th birthday she decided she wanted to party Hawaiian style (or Lilo and Stitch style), so this past Saturday we had a Luau. (Hence the title of this post, hawaiian for Happy Birthday)
My mom did much of the undertaking for this shin dig and it turned out great; beautiful weather to boot!
My little girl is growing up! 2 loose teeth, starting kindergarten in 2 weeks, already starting to read, and such a good little helper and big sister. I can't believe we've had her with us for 5 years! Here's some of the highlights from the party:

The day started out with Eli's order for breakfast; pancakes with strawberries, chocolate chips, and whip cream

After breakfast we gave her a present, Extreme Makeover Home Edition Style, "Move that CAR!"
This was her surprised expression-priceless!

And this was her present-


Here's the cake-

Enjoying the cake



And some presents!

We sure do love this little girl!

Fear and Loathing

There seems to be a lot of bugs around here lately. The girls, oddly enough, love em. I tolerate them, outside, with the exception of the caterpillar in a jar and a ladybug, which was kinda fun.
A few days ago I was outside with the girls when Eli noticed a bug on our fence. Upon the discovery of said bug I quickly made my way inside and didn't go back out the rest of the night. I'm sure you're now dying to know what creepy crawly made me want to confine myself...

A preying mantis. I HATE these things with a passion and can honestly say there's not much else that scares me as much as they do. The fall of my junior year in high school (or maybe my senior year?) there seemed to be more of these insects than normal. At a football game one night a friend noticed one on my pant leg. He brushed it off before I had time to think about it, thankfully, but I still had the heebee jeebees the rest of the night. That same year my dad brought one in the house. I kept telling him to keep it away, to take it outside etc...the horrid beast ended up chasing me down the hall, people! I got to my room and slammed the door shut but since that year preying mantis's and I don't get along. I've had a few run-ins since then, probably the most memorable was when Sandy thought I was going to jump over the stairwell at our apartment when we were first married. I hadn't noticed the stairs were covered with them until I reached the top. Not a good night. So now you know one of my biggest fears. A not so little, really quite ugly, completely gross preying mantis.

It All Makes Sense

Tonight Eli asked me, "Mom, do you want to know why me and my sister made messes all day?" Intrigued, I said, "You bet!" She said, "It's because today is Mess Day."
Oh, Mess Day! From this evidence I surmised that Mess Day must be like Unbirthdays. They occur every day of the year, save one, giving you an excuse to party whenever you feel so inclined. Then, that one day a year that's the exception, it's your birthday, so you still get to party, no questions asked. It all makes sense now! I wish they'd both figure out Clean Day or Sleep Day. Wishful thinking. Silly girls!

Bugs!

Back in July, over Independence weekend, I found a caterpillar on the side of our house. At first I was excited and wanted to show the girls, let them hold it and then put it in a jar to hopefully get a butterfly out of the whole thing. But this was no ordinary caterpillar, people! Holy moly was it mean! I managed to get it off of the house with a stick and over onto a chair; my mom and dad took turns holding it down with a stick and keeping the girls back just enough so they wouldn't get pinched (yes, pinched!) but close enough they could still see it while I got a jar. I wish I had taken pictures, oh well. The ugly lil fella was about 2 inches long, grey, and had pinchers on one end. And he knew how to use them! Luckily we were all chickens (or smart, depends on how you look at it) and we would only touch him with a stick. He was a violent sucker, too! He would flip and twist with a surprising strength for a caterpillar. Well, in the jar he went, and he had himself wrapped in a cocoon within a day. And there he sat on my window sill for the next month. I tried to look the critter up online and what little I found suggested it only took 2 weeks for the things to turn into moths. OH GREAT, a moth?! I came close to just throwing it away several times; I thought it had just died in the jar. So, yesterday I happened to glance at "the jar" and I noticed a change inside- a big, ugly, grey MOTH! UGGH! The girls were excited, at first. Eli would have much rather discovered a butterfly and decided quickly she doesn't like moths. Livi was indifferent. Here's some pics-Eli didn't even want to hold the jar so lucky Livi got to, followed by a pic of the ugly beast that was promptly released after the picture-

On a more pleasant note, we also had a fun few days with a ladybug in our possession. I found this little "Ladybug Playground" in Texas but it got packed in a random box, so it just barely surfaced a while back. The girls have been diligently hunting for ladybugs whenever they play outside but hadn't had any luck. Then, one day last week, both girls came bursting in the house screaming and yelling so I ran to see what was wrong, only to find out all the commotion was over a ladybug! They had finally found one! So here's some pics of that, too.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (SOLD!!)

July has been an AWESOME month and things have been pretty exciting around here.
Yesterday we signed, sealed, and sent off some of the best papers ever-today those papers were delivered, in Texas, and it is now official; our house is SOLD!!
It has been a long 2 years but we cannot deny God's hand in all of this. The whole experience has only reaffirmed our faith in the law of tithing and how much we truly are led, guided, and directed. We are where we are supposed to be, no matter the length of time. Things always work out. Everything has its season.
Now, the fun part- looking for some acres to build a house! Fortunately, we can take our time, find exactly what we're looking for and, in the mean time, save, save, save for a nice down payment. WAHOOO!

Maybe a Do-Over

The Date:

Yesterday, Sandy and I celebrated an entire decade of marriage. I'm still trying to convince myself it's been that long!

I'm also hating the fact that I can look at that picture and think, "Oh man, we look young!". As far as the day itself goes, we didn't do anything extraordinary. Sandy sent me flowers (awww!) and we went to Chili's for dinner. I have always loved Chili's. Last night's dinner, however, has turned me off of them for a while. It was a Wednesday night at 6:30 and I'm amazed that we had to wait so long for a table! No biggie. But then...the waitress. From waiting for our drinks for 15 minutes (the girl's drinks took more like 25, and yes they went with us, new town, no sitter) to her dumping our chips and salsa on the floor, to another 45 minutes for our actual dinner and waiting, in excess, for drink refills... we should have just left, honestly. They overcooked Sandy's steak and my salad (a salad took that long? really?! ARGH!) was, well, horrible. Oh well, moving on. We didn't waste our time on dessert there and opted, instead, for Coldstone. All in all that was a good choice, although, much to Sandy's dismay, they didn't have banana flavored ice cream. Got home, got the girls to bed (which, of course, took longer than usual, so no movie for us, either, haha!) and opened our gift. We also discussed the dire need of a do-over date night!

The Gift:

We have been talking for a couple of years now about going on a cruise to celebrate the 10 year mark. Last month I took action on that dream when I found a "Kids Sail Free" deal with Disney. DONE! We're going in February and can't wait! But for an immediate satisfaction gift we brainstormed a while back for what we could get each other and came up with P90X and Insanity (because we couldn't decide on one and figured when we get bored or finish with one we can switch to the other). Exercise programs. Really? OH YEAH! And I haven't been this excited about an exercise routine since my kickboxing class in Utah! We'll be doing the programs together so it's a dual purpose gift-get in shape and spend time together. I think we're off to a good start on the next decade.

Always My Baby

This is Olivia at one day old. My sweet little newborn baby, her hands are clasped together so cute!















I had Sandy take this picture last night. We were watching a movie; Livi was snuggled up with me on the couch laughing one minute and sound asleep the next. What I love is how she's holding her hands-always my baby.

The COBALT

No, it's not a Chevy, nor is it a shade of blue, or even the metal cobalt element I'm referring to...

Around here you can hear me asking what everyone wants for dinner probably more often than you would hear, "Mom, what's for dinner?". Lately, Eli has been requesting COBALTS. So, I thought I'd share a (Sandy) Lilya Family favorite-the COBALT. Basically, it's nothing but a glorified BLT, sometimes known as the California BLT due to the avocado content. Here you have it:

C-cheese
O-onion
B-bacon
A-avocado
L-lettuce
T-tomato

plus whatever bread/dressing you prefer. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the result:

It's a good thing I just ate-that sucker looks YUMM-O!!

Mondays Aren't that Bad

The girls and I have had a real treat the last 5 days; Sandy hasn't had to work AT ALL! We did "absolutely nothing" for a bit of it-that was so enjoyable-and we celebrated our Nation's Independence Day, taking advantage of Eli's hunger for learning and teaching her all about it and how it's not just about the fireworks. My parents, Sandy's brother and his friend came to see us Saturday and we got to enjoy some oh-so-good chicken, rice, baked beans, homemade salsa, pork and seeds, and some fruit pizza (I guess you could say we were celebrating all the different cultures that make up our great land). Today, Monday, was the last of those 5 days and we decided to take a drive out to Hagerman and Sandy showed us where his job site is. We let Eli explore the area a bit and we found a Killdeer nest with four eggs that she just loved to look at (Livi didn't make it the whole drive and was passed out in the truck-it's been a long weekend!). Once we got home we were invited to a formal ball. This was probably one of the highlights of the last few days and a good way to end as well. Eliana had this all planned out for our FHE. We all were supposed to wear our fanciest of formal wear, the girls with makeup and fancy hair-do's, and everyone was to be outside at 7 o'clock. What a fun time! I wish I had pictures of all of us to post but I guess I was having so much fun in the moment I didn't want to step out of it for snapshots. The four of us danced in the back yard; the girls ultimately ended up just running around, going down the slide and playing. LOVED IT! Weekends are great and Mondays aren't that bad!

Just When, Exactly, is the Fourth of July?

Just when, exactly, is the fourth of July? The answer to this question seems to be missing this year. I always thought it was obvious.

The following is the definition of Independence Day as found on Merriam-Webster.com:

"a civil holiday for the celebration of the anniversary of the beginnings of national independence; specifically : July 4 observed as a legal holiday in the United States in commemoration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776."

I would encourage everyone to brush up a bit on our Nation's history by reading the article found at the link I've provided. http://www.pbs.org/capitolfourth/history.html

So just when should the Fourth of July be celebrated? I guess what it comes down to is it's a personal choice for everyone, just like everything else. And how lucky we are to have that FREEDOM!! For me and my family, we will be celebrating the Fourth of July on the Fourth of July, just as we would be celebrating Christmas Day on Christmas Day, or New Years Eve on New Years Eve, if those were to fall on a Sunday. Understandably, one could argue semantics when it comes to the Sabbath Day and Christmas verses the Fourth of July. I, for one, am grateful for the opportunity afforded me to have the freedom to practice the religion I choose. It can be humbling to remember that without one we may not have the other. So, of course, it is cause for celebration!

*Updated* Thought I'd add a few of our pictures we took while celebrating.

The girls with Grandpa & Grandma Moser-
watching a few of the noisy fireworks.

One of the tanks "shot" Sandy so the girls
were making sure he was okay.

Livi with a sparkler-she has the potential to be
quite the little pyro.

While patiently waiting for it to get dark to watch the bigger stuff
Livi unexpectedly fell asleep for the rest of the night! Guess she
had her fill of excitement.

Eli and Sandy watching a fountain

More sparklers. Sandy found some that were something like 3 ft long-
pretty cool!

Sandy showing us how to work the sparklers, hahaha!