SUPER DUPER!!!

Abby has been learning to read. I can't believe my little girl is getting so big! She gets really excited to do her "chart" as she calls it. At the end of each lesson she gets to put a sticker on her chart. As you can see we just finished lesson 14.

I have to say I am pretty impressed by this program. For the first five lessons I thought this is going to take forever but it is really gaining momentum. At the end of each lesson she practices some of the letters or "sounds" she has learned. Today was "i" and "e". Ginny wanted to join in (we usually do this during her nap). Can you tell which one is Abby's and which is Ginny's? Ginny became so excited over her attempts that she shouted "That is SUPER DUPER!!!" It was hilarious, I have no idea where she heard that. We laughed so hard that she walked around the house saying "SUPER DUPER" for the next 15 minutes.

Orange Smile

After eating doritos Abby's face and hands were stained orange... Me: "Abby, do you need to go and wash your hands?" Abby: "I washed them with my tongue."

plummer's crack!

We finished up saying prayers tonight and Brian was doing the lazy kneel with his head on the floor. Abby: "You forgot to pull up your pants Daddy!" Ohhh, forgetful Daddy. On a side note, his bum is so little I don't know how he manages to even have back cleavage. Mine, on the other hand (as my Ashton roomies will attest to) is ample... let's just say that low cut jeans pose problems for me. My old roommate Chelsey happily pointed out that Ginny had inherited my "tall crack" (a delightful little moniker the Ashton's gave me).

We've been enjoying being so close to Sugarhouse park lately
(before the sickness) we need to get in as many of the beautiful days outdoors that we can before the weather turns.
We had to cross the water to get back and forth from our car (the bridge was pretty far down) all part of the fun. Halfway across there were some stumps and I thought it would be such a cute spot to take some pics but about 20 pictures later this was the best shot I could get... at least both girls were looking at the camera.

What about Bob???

These are some pictures from our vacation at Lake Winnipesaukee. My parents live there and we usually spend about a month there every summer. Unfortunately since I'm working full-time this year we only got 10 days.

Ginny fell asleep on the boat as you can see. It seems to be an excellent tool too send the younger kids to dreamland since Lex fell asleep on the floor as well. Both girls loved the boat Abby was very daring and would reach out to wet her hands in the spray.

Abby enjoyed getting her hair and nails done by her Aunt Elizabeth who has four boys and has to borrow Abby for such things. You can see the greasiness of their hair from the sunblock... I think it helped hold the braids in longer. Ginny's fell out almost immediately. Maybe next year her hair will be long enough for braids.

One of the highlights of the trip was snorkeling so I added a shot of My dad Chandler and I snorkeling. All of the adults snorkeled at one point or another. The girls are still a little too young for it but Abby enjoyed sunning herself on a rock while watching her cousins Chandler and Gabe snorkel.

It was so beautiful... I didn't want to leave.

The Sickness

This picture really captures my week. We have all been groggy, froggy, sniffy, sleepy, medicated and a wee bit grumpy at times. Poor Abby has been the only one who is well. "What?!?" you say, "Poor Abby?" Yes, because she has had to deal with the rest of us wanting to stay in bed and barely coming up for air, certainly never leaving the house. How has the weather been for those of you who haven't spent the last week in a cave???

Summertime and the living is EASY???

Okay, so much for my plans to be a better blogger! First we moved half of our stuff (the junk that we doesn't work for staging) over to Brian's mom's and we've been "living" in her basement. Once the moving was done it took us almost two weeks to get the house presentable and put the sign up on July 24th... a busy holiday for us.

A week later we left for New Hampshire where we visited my parents along with my sister Elizabeth and her 4 boys. She took some phenomenal pictures which I will have to steal from her so you can see them- you will all want to move there immediately- and when winter hits you'll all want to move back!

Once we got home I went back to work and then spent my four days off from work at Education Week at BYU. It was wonderful! The highlight for me was a course by K. Douglas Bassett who, instead of sticking to his oft given prepared presentations he took it in a different direction. He said that he had been up until 1:30 the evening before with strong feelings that the people of that particular class needed something else- it was inspired. Everything that was relayed I really needed to hear.

Thursday we went to the zoo with the girls to see the new arrivals... 3 baby tigers (Abby's favorite), a baby snow leopard and a baby giraffe! The girls put in their votes for naming the baby Elephant who will not be out until October because she is bonding with her mom. Ginny voted for Zuri and Abby for Kayree (not sure of the spelling of that second one, they had it spelled out phonetically and that's the only way I remember it).

That evening we visited with our friends Steve and Melissa and baby Bell who were in town from Indiana. As a bonus we also saw Nicki with her family and Carver who hosted with his new (February) wife and son. We learned both couples are expecting and are so excited for them!

Friday we went to Sugarhouse park for a picnic. That evening the girls played with their cousins while mom and dad went to the temple with Tony and Ashley (Brian's niece). It was her first time back since receiving her endowment and we did initiatory and a session. We learned that sometimes snooping can pay off because we were invited back into what had ben Lorenzo Snow's apartment and given some interesting info. by one of the veil worker's who gave us a mini tour- it was awesome!

Lucky for all of you my fingers are getting "dizzy" as Abby would say- more to come.