Goodbye BYU

A few weeks ago there was a BBQ for graduate students on campus. They have these socials every once in a while, but this time they were serving free J-Dawgs! :) Our little family attended, and we took this opportunity to walk around campus. Oh, I just love BYU. It is so funny to think about how time has flown since we started there. We kind of felt like we were saying goodbye, because we are coming in on the home stretch of John's Ph.D.

The flowers are always so pretty on campus, and Miriam just loved, loved the fountain in the JSFB. We had to go on the balcony and look out across campus. We had to get John's picture with the Clyde Building.

I do love BYU, but I really don't miss being a student. I love being a full-time mother and wife. These girls bring me more joy than I thought possible. I am super nervous and excited for the next step. As of last week we are officially moving to the Phoenix area when John graduates (sometime in the fall). We are so grateful to have the job search end, and glad to have a good job lined up, but I am so sad at leaving our family, friends, and life here in Utah Valley.

Oh the Girliness

Oh Eliza just loves make up. It kind of makes me and John want to gag. But I have to admit there is no point in fighting the girliness at this house. The jewelry! Since these pictures were taken we have rotated our toys and no longer have jewelry out, which I am thankful for everyday. :) 

Of course, Miriam has to get in the action too. Our kids practically live in dress ups. Here they are breaking a piñata in preschool while in princess clothes.

Ellie decided she wanted to do my hair one day. She was so proud of herself  that she wanted to take a "real picture" of it. I love how the simplest things bring out the most delight. :) Of course I really can't blame all this girlishness on the little girls. This big girl really likes to make hair bows and dress them alike. 

In fact I even went so far as to make matching maxi skirts for all of us. In several colors. Poor John. :)

They are also just very playful and fun! I love Ellie's happy face and the fun times the girls have with their friends.

Seven Years!

On this day, seven years ago, me (John) and a couple of my roommates went to meet the girls in our new singles ward via a process of knocking on all of the doors in their apartment building, chatting for a minute if they had time, then moving on.  In doing so, I ran into a girl who just got off work at the MTC cafeteria, still in her work clothes.  We struck up a conversation after one of my roommates stole her phone and started talking to one of her friends who she had been talking to.  I was surprised how easy she was to talk to, and found out later that she had the same thought.  Little did I know, I was talking to the person I would marry about 8 months later.  I am the luckiest guy I know!  I can't believe how time flies!

Easter Egg Hunt and Life

For Easter this year we enjoyed two hunts. One with friends and one with family. Neither one was on Easter because John was away interviewing for a job that day. The kids were super excited about the hunt even though there wasn't many surprises. Eliza even helped fill the eggs. I know, mother of the year.

This was Miriam's first time egg hunting though and she definitely got in the spirit of it.

By the end, everyone was happy. Well, almost everyone. :)

At my parent's easter party, the first-world problem arose of not being able to carry all of the loot you got in the hunt. Here are the kids ready to go. (Yeah, that is my kid. Only one out of line.)

I can't believe how big these kids are getting.

The four girls!

Happy Easter to YOU! (a month late) :)

From my journal April 7, 2013: I love General Conference. It really inspires me in so many ways. The spirit I feel reminds of things that matter most and to not care so much about the things that matter least. I am so richly blessed. I need to remember that.

From my journal April 28, 2013: Wow time just flies. Our kids get cuter and more mischievous every day. Ellie says the funniest things. "I like the New Testament more than the Book of Mormon." What? :) Once she told me that she wanted me to do something to dinner so it would be "more delightful food." She also told me that she was "uncomfortable with Grandma leaving." "I am proud of you for getting me a new bib." "You're getting young because of your oldness." "Daddy, pink is a bad color for you." Once Ellie did something sweet to me, and I told John "At least somebody loves me." Ellie immediately asked, "Who?" Also, last week I just had my first period since Miriam and Ellie of course has been talking a lot about bleeding and "special band-aids." It is pretty great.

Miriam is really learning a lot too. She is picking up words like crazy and actually putting them together. Last night John was pouring milk into Miriam's sippy cup and she said, "Bye-bye, No, no." (No, no is milk.) She is getting pretty good at recognizing her colors and a handful of letters. She really loves books these days. Her favorites are Dr. Suess's ABCs and Goodnight Moon. She loves to say letters are D, M, and O. Also, her new love is bubbles.

We have started potty training Miriam. She has done pretty well, but it can be pretty discouraging. She definitely understands what we want her to do and can actually do it, but is so stubborn about wanting to go in her diaper. She also doesn't want a wet or dirty diaper on so asks to sit on the toilet after she goes. Whew, it can be super frustrating because she'll be dry and then I tell her that we are going to go sit on the toilet and she'll be wet by the time I get her diaper off. That being said, she really picked up super fast what she was supposed to do, so it is just a matter of her wanting to. 

For Easter this year we did a hunt at the Guinn's and John was out of town on the actual holiday. On General conference we did a hunt at my parents house and it was nice. I liked the fact that people tended to go a little healthier this year.

For a date this month we decided to start a new tradition. So we picked the tradition of going to a production of some kind in April every year. I hope we remember. This year we went to a play up in Ogden, which was a little ghetto, but still fun rendition of "Little Women." :)

We have done a couple of fun family activities recently. We went to a free bbq at BYU and went around campus with the kids. We also visited the Provo temple. Miriam LOVED the fountain. There were such pretty flowers.

This month we had a disappointment when John interviewed for a great job in Provo and his good friend Joe Prince actually got it. The salt in the wound was that Joe was offered $85,000. Whew that could have been great. Really shortly thereafter though he was invited down to Phoenix, which he'll visit in a week.

One burn that we have had recently was in our car. So much money to get it fixed. I hate car repairs.

On the bright side the weather has been so nice recently. We had a fun family party yesterday for Jane's birthday. Patti did a fun art birthday party for her, with so many activities.

Prom for Married People

As part of our goal to do a weekly date, John surprised me last year with plans to go to the BYU Traditions Ball. This was so fun!!! We really recommend going if anyone ever gets the chance. There is a great jazz band, dance instruction, yummy food, and live shows to watch. We saw some amazing dancers there, both in the shows and just some of the couples that were dancing. I love dressing up and going dancing so this was a perfect fancy date for me.

We decided to go again this year and were definitely not disappointed. I felt about 16 years old, borrowing a dress from my friend, but it was worth it. I can't remember the dances we learned last year, but this year we learned the three step swing and the foxtrot (I think). This was perfect for the jazz music. It is fun to see everyone dressed up. We saw quite a variety dresses from prom to church dresses to even one wedding dress last year.

It is funny to compare these dances with the ones from when we were single. It sure makes me appreciate who my date is these days. :) A couple of years ago, when I was student teaching, we actually chaperoned the high school prom. My goodness, that was entertaining. If you ever want to appreciate being married, watch high schoolers awkwardly dance or make out. Yep, it was pretty great. :) Mainly I just love being married to such a great guy!

Traditions Ball 2013

Traditions Ball 2012

Job Hunting

For the past six months or so, John has diligently been trying to find employment for when he graduates. So fun. Errr. Not. The fun thing about job hunting is that you can tell people all about the places that you have been interviewing and the jobs that you...didn't get. This last week John was gone back to back to Arizona and California interviewing.

He learned a lot about Tuscon. For example, you aren't allowed to kill rattle snakes there. Ew. Also, if you intentionally damage a saguaro, you could spend a year in prison. 

In Ridgecrest California, he learned that although the place he interviewed with is in a hiring freeze, it was the most promising interview yet. Essentially, as soon as the hiring freeze ends (supposedly about when he'll graduate) they will extend an official offer of employment. They even told him the specific position he would fill and what he would get paid. Unfortunately, nothing is official yet. *Fingers crossed*  In the meantime, he is still looking other options. Hopefully something will work out sooner than later.

Because I Am Four...

Our little girl is now four. I seriously cannot believe it. She is the sweetest little girl. Although, I swear since her birthday she has developed a new sense for the word sassy. She really is the light of my life. I am constantly amazed at her forgiving nature. She is empathetic, charitable, curious, and delightful. She keeps us laughing at her frank comments. 

Eliza has really become obsessed with her age. “I can do this because I am four. Four year olds are bigger and can do this…etc.” It is pretty funny. Today she said that “These games are only for 4 year olds. I am afraid I will have to teach other kids.” A couple of other funny things she said about her birthday is “It’s ice and I can’t slip. Isn’t it funny I am bigger than I usually am.” Also, “I love candy!” She said that a couple of her recipes are her “Best recipes” - see 2 posts after this one for details! One time when we were driving to the doctor, she added the words “Speaking of which” to the beginning of a sentence. She seriously is so cute and growing WAY too fast! On her birthday she wished for a new house and ponies, and declared, “I am Cinderella, butterfly girl!” Yeah, that pretty much sums up Ellie right now.

Another funny story, yesterday my mom was up here babysitting so that John and I could go to a financial seminar. Afterwards we went shopping for my parents’ basement furniture. I climbed into the backseat between the two car seats and Ellie commented that “Grandma is the heaviest.” Talk about awkward.

One night she said, “I can’t stop eating this.” It was definitely something she didn’t even like that much, but I think she just hears us say stuff like that. Ellie is doing amazing when it comes her reading. She can really read any word that isn’t too long. Also, almost exactly two years from when she was potty trained, we have stopped putting her in diapers at night!!! The week of her birthday she slept dry 6 nights in a row and we decided to say that 4 year olds don’t wear diapers!

For her birthday we did a princess tea party which included “Don’t eat the frog” game, princess dancing, cake walk, “Princess, princess where’s your crown?” game, and a butterfly cake. I was pretty proud of that cake. They also had hot chocolate or cider with their cake. We got Ellie a big girl bike, which she likes, but doesn’t love. She more loves the princess chapstick and real make up that other people got her. Stinker. I was really happy with how the party turned out though and am sure she will like the bike more and more with time.

We really just love our sweet little girl. Ellie’s favorite things right now are: dressing up, putting on make up, play outside with her friends, reading books, eating candy, doing preschool, making crafts, coloring, writing letters, and going places. Ellie weighed about 31 lbs at her 4 year old check up.

Miriam is such a delight as well. She picks up new words all the time. She is starting to combine words. So fun! At her 18 month check up she is actually caught up developmentally, but is small for her age. She doesn’t weigh enough! Getting her to eat is really tricky though and is a fight at almost every single meal. Mostly it consists of spoon feeding her pureed food so that we can distract her and she can swallow without thinking about eating or having to chew. Yeah, pretty great. :(

She still loves her mama more than anything is the sweetest little cuddler. She is practically done with her baby milk “noi, noi” But she still likes it. Miriam loves bubble baths, making messes, reading books, going places, and playing with whatever someone else is playing with.

Ellie's birthday is shortly after Valentine's Day, so some photos from our Valentine's Day celebration are included here, as well as a few other good recent ones. It turns out that the bike we picked was a little too big for our little four year old!

From my journal on March 17, 2013: John and I have had a pretty busy last couple of weeks too. Still no real developments on the job hunt. I try really hard not to be worried that he might not get a job, but he seems pretty confident that he will. 

One thing that hasn't been very much fun recently was that we went to the dentist. Almost $900 later our teeth feel a little bit better. John did have a piece of popcorn stuck in his teeth that the dentist got out. He also replaced five of John's fillings.  I got two new ones, which stunk. Ellie had her first dentist appointment, which cost as much as ours, but didn't seem like it was worth much. Oh well. Also, the mother board on our computer broke, which cost us another $250. Needless to say I am getting a little concerned about money right now. And the car needs to be fixed. Fun.

We have been doing fun things though. For Valentine's Day my mom came down and we went to a yummy indian restaurant called Kohinoor. We got the saag paneer which was delicious and the mango lassi was delightful. That morning we did sealings which was really nice. I also made red velvet heart shaped pancakes.  John got the girls a valentine's gift of heart cups and special juice. Pretty big hit. :) After the restaurant that night we went up the canyon where John gave me a nice candle and I gave him a photo of us from our wedding.  The next night we went to a church dance, which was fun, but kind of funny. The dance was for everyone 14 and older, so there were some awkward teenagers there too. Oh I am so glad that I am married. It was a really nice Valentine's day.

The next weekend we went up my parent's house for a birthday dinner for the February birthdays. We also went up there yesterday. My mom is redoing their basement and bought a whole bunch of cabinetry and a huge plasma tv. We have been helping her get that set up and her stuff organized. It is a huge project that is still not done.

We also went to the Pearson family dinner at Norma's church where we were parents of the year and accidentally locked Miriam in the kitchen by herself. Fortunately Hema had the number of the guy with the keys so it was okay. Still, not a very good stunt by us.

We went to a financial seminar at BYU that was really interesting. It gave us a lot of info about buying a house. They have a ton of resources available at personalfinance.byu.edu. It just also made me want to live in such a way where we are not slaves to the money that we spend. I want to live a lifestyle that allows for security and saving. I hope we can save at least 20% of what we make.

Our dates we have done recently are a my choice/his choice, where we wrote mad libs for each other. John did one where we wrote poetry (haikus) for each other. It was super funny. Last week I did a St. Patrick's Day date that included a scratch off lottery ticket to come up with activities.

Ellie really is the cutest. She is still so obsessed with her make up. I put real make up on her the other day, and she is extra obsessed now. Great. Something she says all the time these days is "What do you do if you have a ___ in your eye?" Fill in the blank with glass, oatmeal, a tree, the whole world, etc. Something else that was funny was that she said, (in reference to Cafe Rio) "We are not here to get something healthy, we are here to get a treat." She also said, "There is a lot of pink in my life." So true. She still doesn't love her bike, but she is reading better and better. The other day she read "Put Me in the Zoo." Although it does have fairly simple words it was still 60 pages long. She also has the Berenstein Bears Love Their Neighbors down pat. Seriously every word memorized verbatim. So stinking cute. I need to get a video of that.

Miriam is picking up words like crazy, although you would have to be us to understand. For example, "A baba" is 'a story.' She is super cute and sweet. One of my favorite things she does is cup my cheeks and chin with her hands.