Swim Lessons: Day 5

I was kind of worried that a 3 day break would dimish Sariah's love for the swimming pool, but I was wrong! She's a super swimmer and today they gave her a floatie belt and a kick bar and she held on as I helped her kick her legs so she could swim like the big kids! She def. notices the kids in the shrimp classes as they swim by, and she was really excited to be just like them. It totally wore her out though, and she had her head on my shoulder before the class even ended!

She still not totally sure about he blowing bubbles thing, but she does it really well at the dinner table in her cup! Sigh, sometimes you got to pick your battles. ;)

We had a quiet Sunday yesterday. Doug and I were released from our callings (Ward Mission Leader and Ward Missionary, respectively.) We had been ward missionaries for 2 years now, so its nice to get a break and prepare for something new. We're still very excited to work with the missionaries, and plan to as much as possible. We haven't gotten new callings yet, but it shouldn't be long, there's lots of changes happening in the ward right now (move outs/in, ect.)

I watched the Euro Cup soccar Final yesterday and saw Spain trounce Germany. That was sad (unless you're Dav, that it was really cool... ;) ) Speaking of Germany, we had the two sister missionaries over Saturday for dinner and we made a nice dinner of bratwurst, rot kohl, knoedel, cucumber salad w/ dill, and an apfelkuchen (from a german baker investigator I had!). It was very tasty and we made them both homesick! Whoops!

Family Pictures

As you can see, we got new family pictures taken today. We were in desperate need of new ones since our old ones are 15 months old, and Sariah has changed a bit (that's an under statement!)

There is a fabulous woman in our ward, Ann, who does photography. If you move into our ward, Ann takes your picture, you child goes into primary? Ann takes the picture, she's great. She actually took our last picture for the ward list, and it was so good we framed it. We like Ann.

As part of our RS service auction, Ann donated 2 free family pictures. I really wanted them and bid all I could on both, but I lost both. Luckily Ann came to me after and said that she'd also do our family portrait. Yay!

So this morning we decked ourselves out in new clothes and went over to Ann's and had a short photo session. What you see up top is our finished product! Good, no? I love it. And lets just pretend that we got this shot magically, we we pretty much did. Is Ann a genius? I think so! Plus we're pretty good looking, and the monkey adds the perfect touch. :)

By the way, in case you're wondering, I got a new hair cut for this occasion. Its awesome. They cut it so its wash and go and naturally curls under, plus they thinned it out (I have TONS of hair) so its not so hot for the Summer! Doug also got a hair cut about a week or two ago, but Sariah, I still can't bare to cut her hair!

Swim Lessons: Day 4

Not much new to report on today's lessons. Sariah is still having a blast. We got a nice compliment from our teacher today who told us that she hopes that Sariah will continue swim lessons and that she get Sariah in her Shrimp class (we're in little dippers right now) because Sariah is going to be a superstar. :) It was very sweet.

I also learned yesterday and forgot to mention it, but our class is mostly moms and babies except for one Dad, Ben and his daughter Haven, who turned out to be in the 1st Ward! I figured something was up when he came in yesterday wearing a BYU shirt. I think its funny because there's only 7 babies in the class, so what are the odds that two of them would be mormons?

Today after lessons we got Doug's car a tune up, and Sariah did really well while we waited, it helped that there was cookies and toys. :) I also bought her a new wooden puzzle that is actually for church, but I let her use it today. She's really into puzzles right now and loves to play with them at the library. We've got two now, the new one has cars on it and Aunt Susan gave her one with shapes on it for Christmas that she loves.

Storytime starts back up today. So we're off to do that this afternoon after nap. Speaking of naps and bedtime, here's a little picture for Aunt Jenny. Sariah loves her purple monkey blanket. She uses it everyday on her bed and it goes great with her monkey sheets! Thanks Aunt Jenny!

Swim Lessons: Day 3 (plus other exciting stuff!)

She did it! Sariah managed to blow bubbles twice today during swim lessons! Yay! She's doing so well and she's fearless in the water. We're having such a good time! One more lesson this week and then we get a break till next week, but we're having so much fun!

In other news, the a/c in my car is fixed, along with the breaks and an oil leak. My car is once again enjoyable to drive! This makes me feel much better, and I feel better about driving it longer, even though its only two door. I flipped Sariah rear facing in her car seat again (she was forward facing so she could get some air from the rolled down windows), and I feel much safer having her flipped back. She doesn't seem to mind. She can look out the back window just as well as the front, and she always jabbering away about something, or bopping her head to the music (BNL's Snacktime plays most often in our car, I highly recommend it!)

As promised here are some pictures from our recent projects:

First I trimmed a lot of dead wood and brances of this big tree/bush next to our house.

I wish I had thought to take a "before" picture, but since I didn't you can just imagine how wild and overgrown it looked before by taking a look a the branches I cut off. First there is this pile...

And this one....
And the piles we're saving in the garage for firewood when we go camping...

Speaking of the garage, Doug went out Saturday to mow the lawn, and when I went looking for him, he had started cleaning out the garage, so we picked up some organizational things at Walmart to he could finish. I think it turned out great! (You would agree with me if you saw the mess that it was before hand!)

Don't our trash cans fit nicely here? Its actually where we want to put a freezer eventually, but for now, this works well...
So Sariah's been getting into trouble... well, not really but she's really into climbing into the bookshelves.

In case you are wondering, this little outfit might be recognizable to some, it was once Doug's...
We also re-discovered our sunglasses the other day. She kept them on her face for a long time too! She's also much better with hats, as long as she put it on herself. I love that she's such a girl. She loves bows and glasses and hats and shoes and purses. Its all so cute!So there's an update on our life... till tomorrow's swim lesson post!

Swim Lessons: Day 2

My child loves the water! Our second day of lessons started swimmingly! Sariah was much calmer today and only threw a fit when I tried to take away her towel so I could change her clothes. She had an awesome time kicking and floating. Today she got to wear a floatie belt and she liked that because she felt like she didn't have to hold me close the whole time. We also tried a kick bar (imagine one of those weight lifting bars only with foam on the ends, not weights...) and she kind of got the hang of that. She also LOVES to jump off the side of the pool, in spite of the fact that I dunk her underwater every time. The only thing she hasn't quite figured out is the blowing bubbles. She sees me do it, and she doesn't mind sticking her face in the water, but she doesn't get the blowing part. Good thing we've got 6 more lessons to work on it! :)

In other news, my car is in the shop today so they can fix the a/c (sweet, sweet a/c.) So we're stranded for a little while, but its totally worth it! Also we've been working on some projects around the (outside) of the house, mainly our garage and one of our trees. I'm hoping to post pictures soon, because Doug did a really great job with the garage. :)

Swim Lessons: Day 1

Today was our first swim lesson of the season! This year we're doing a 2 week/4 days a week for 30 min. swim class at the local high school.

Once Sariah realized we were there to get in the pool, she was totally excited, and I had to literally hold her back from jumping in the pool. She's quite enthustiastic about it. Today we just did some basic "lets get use to the water" games. She likes to "swim" on her tummy but not so much on her back, I don't think she likes the water in her ears. She remembers how to kick her legs and scoop with her hands, that was pretty good.

She is really stubborn when she wants to be though. She really wanted to hang off the lane divider and I wouldn't get let her get near it, so she did a whole lot of screaming and crying about that. She was also really upset when we had to get out (30 min. is NOT long enough for Sariah!) and she kept trying to jump back into the pool. We're going to figure out where we can go swimming more often, there aren't any cheap outdoor pools in the area. (There isn't any cheap indoor pools either!)

So we're looking forward to swimming again tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on her progress, but I don't think we'll get any pictures this year, since Doug can't come and visit. :(

Obessed?

I'm in the middle of two books right now, and I have a third on hold at the Library, yet all I want to do is read Harry Potter 6. I think I might be a little obsessed considering I read my Harry Potter books at least once a year, sometimes more, picking them up every so often and reading my favorite parts or just something random in the middle.

Speaking of books people obsess about, I just saw the teaser trailer for Twilight. I can't stand the way those books are written, but I read all 3. They drove me insane with their stupid plot twists and mindless ranting, but I still read them. That being said, the teaser trailer for the movie looks pretty good, so maybe I'll have to see that. Take a look for yourself...



Other things I'm obsessed with right now: Dove's Chocolate Cherry Courtship ice cream, yum! and sewing, but more on that later... ;)

The Best Laid Plans of Mice & Marin

About a month ago, I had the perfect Father's Day Weekend planned. We were going to go camping Thurs-Sat. and then have a relaxing Sunday together. I scheduled a camp site, Doug got the Friday off, and about a week ago we went and bought a new tent, coleman stove, etc. Things were going our way. Then the weekend before our scheduled trip it rained, and I'm talking buckets. Towns flooded, rivers swelled, laked burst their barriers and people evacuated. Then came the Thursday of our camping trip, and what happened? More rain. Buckets full. What was bad over the weekend, was worse on Thursday. Yet we persisted. We figured since the rain would stop by Friday early morning, we'd just get up and go then.

So Sariah and I headed to the store Thursday during a lull in the rain. Or we tried to, except for one pesky problem. Our automatic garage door would not open. So it wasn't a huge problem in the moment, I just disconnected the garage door from the opener and left. When Doug came home that night, he spent several hours (and had wonderful help, thanks Dad Croft! :) ) trying to fix it and discovered that one of the sensors had burned out. Meanwhile I was trying (unsucessfully) to pack for our camping trip, and the rain kept coming down, harder and harder. At about 10pm we decided to scrap the trip all together and make the most of it at home.

About that time I got an email saying that the church was sending aid to the area and they would be using the stake center as a loading/unloading zone and needed help unloading 3 semi-trucks full of cleaning solution, hygine kits and shovels. So Friday morning, instead of heading to the state park (which I found out later was kinda washed out around the camp sites) we left early to go to the church and help. Sariah was pretty good during all of this. She spent part of the time on my back in the sling as I helped pass buckets down the line, and the other part she spent playing in the nursery (when they had someone to help watch the kids.)

It was good work and it felt good to help. We spent most of the morning there and then went to lunch after at Olive Garden. The afternoon we spent relaxing, and then in the evening Doug used our little hibatchi grill and built a fire and we roasted hot dogs and marshmellows. There are no pictures though, because one of us (Doug) had to keep fueling the fire and the other one of us (me) had to make sure Sariah was safe. It was a little easier after she was straped into her booster seat and couldn't move from our outdoor table. We all enjoyed the food, Sariah had her first taste of smore, which she mostly just poked at the marshmellow with her finger and then ate the chocolate. After Doug ran out of wood to put on the fire (he had a really, REALLY good time with the fire) we put Sariah to bed and sat outside in our new camp chairs and read books until we couldn't see anymore.

Saturday was more of the same, since the weather turned sunny for Fri/Sat. we spent it relaxing together and eating leftovers. Sunday, poor Doug still had his meetings before and after church, and then at 3pm we were invited to a special baptism of a friend in the ward, which was really great. After we spent the day relaxing and the evening watching The Incredibles that we got Doug on dvd, since he's so incredible! :)

So it wasn't the weekend I had envisioned, but it turned out pretty good. Sorry that there are no pictures. I plan on posting some of Sariah doing some new random things soon though. We hope everyone else had a great Father's Day Weekend!

Happy Father's Day!

To my Dad: Who was my coach for all kinds of sports and sometimes in life. My favorite times with my dad were traveling to a game (of any kind) and rooting for our team together. Dad's a pretty great guy, who I always knew would be there to help me out, wether he liked it or not. He's stubborn, but he's a softie, too. And he's good for a laugh. We've had good times. I know he doesn't like to be called Grandpa, but, Dad, you are one, and we love when you come to visit. :)

To my Father-in-law: One of the wonderful things about being Doug's wife, is getting an awesome set of in-laws. They have done so much for us, to which I'm grateful. Its an honor to be part of this family. On a personal note, after Doug and I were engaged but right before Doug left for BYU, his father gave us both a Father's Blessing. That blessing still touches my life today, and I have seen the results of it in my life. Thank you. I'm lucky to be married to a son who has such a great example for a father.

To Grandpa James: Welcome to our family! We're looking forward to meeting with you soon!

And Last, BUT Def. Not Least...

To Doug, a Wonderful Husband and Father: Sariah could not ask for a better dad. She loves to play with you. She loves to be taught by you. You're a great example for her. She's sad when you leave for work, and excited when you come home. She loves to point you out in photos. She loves you very much and I love you even more. We're thankful for you!

Happy Father's Day to all the Great Dad's (and some Dads-to-be!) out there!

There Are No More Babies Here...

...only big girls... ...that sleep in twin sized big girl beds...
...sniff, sniff...

Can One be Antiblogger-Social?

Hey ya'll. I know I've been bad about posting lately, and stuff has been going on that's probably blog worthy... Anyways, I'm not in the mood to type or story tell or mess with trying to upload pictures. So I just wanted to let you know, we're doing fine, and even though I'm not in a commenting mood, I'm reading your blogs and thinking about ya'll. Hopefully I'll snap out of my funk soon and be back to full swing blogging.

Love you all!
Marin