The Winds of Change . . .

I guess, lately, we've all felt like the cold weather was closing in around us so some of us needed a change. Emory's been begging to have her ears pierced for months, so we took her to get it done. Like I said, it's been a few months since she's wanted them. Then we saw an episode of Jon and Kate +8 where one of the older twins gets her ears pierced. The girl was like 7 or 8 and started bawling when they "shot" her. Emory got freaked out by that and said she'd changed her mind. Well, a few weeks go by and she comes up to me and says, "Mom? I know that piercing my ears will hurt a little bit, but I'm ready to do it now." She was dead serious, so I know she'd been thinking about it for awhile. So, this last Saturday we went! She =icked out pink ones, of course, and she was so brave, only shed a few tears and didn't really even make noise. After 2 minutes of concern, she was ecstatic and giggling about how she and I were "sister twins with our earrings"! She then informed me later in the week that now she only needed two more things to make her "totally happy", a cat and Disneyland! Wow, that's all?!
While doing the photo shoot of her new ears, we turned the camera on Tessa. Every time I held down the button to focus, she'd hold her head and scream/laugh. I couldn't figure out what the deal was, until I turned the camera on Emory and me. There is a blinding red light the shines right in your eyes! How weird, I'm sure it does something important, I just don't know what!?! All the girls painted their toes and I loved how still the little girls were. They love all things girlie!
Also, after Emory and I got home from the mall, Cory decided he needed a change. I came upstairs to him hanging over the sink shaving his head! He'd missed some spots, so I helped a little. I've got to say that I really like it, especially how it feels. It brings back memories of my brothers "buzzing" their hair for the summer. I'm just jealous of how long it takes him to dry and do it!
On a crafting/sewing note: I finally got around to putting this bag together. I got the fabric and pattern months ago, so it was high time to get around to it. I LOVE IT! I love the size, the color, the pockets, and it was super easy too!

Happy Movie Monday!

We love this tradition! It's so fun to take the girls to pick out their movie at Redbox, they get so excited. We prepare an FHE lesson during the day and make dinner together. Then we have our lesson, which the girls are totally into lately. I love spending time with them during the day getting the lesson ready and teaching them about the Gospel. (It makes my heart happy when Tessa sees a picture of Jesus and squeals with delight, "JeeJee!!") Then when we actually have the lesson, their prepared for what we're going to talk about. Emory loves to lead the songs and Tess is such a singer. Next is the treat and the movie. We love spreading out all the blankets and cuddling up to watch together. And did I mention the movie is free?!? That's right, Movie Monday Redbox Code, WE LOVE YOU! Just check out the website, I'm not sure if you have to sign up or if you can just find the code. It's my favorite e-mail reminder of the week!
I think we're going to give The Tale of Despereaux a try?
P.S. Cory's home!! And we're so happy, "and all together again," as Emory informed me. He spent the week back East doing . . . the leadership stuff that he does. Anyways, he was elected to a new position. He's a voting member of the American Osteopathic Association Board of Trustees! Which sounds very prestigious and important if you ask me? I'm just excited for all the formal events and retreats that he gets to go to, which I get to accompany him too (well, most of the time!). Congratulations Cory, we love you even when you make faces like this . . .

Tessa sings!

I know, I know . . . two posts in two days. I've been working on Blog Books, so I've got blog on the brain. Anyways, we just can't get enough of this video! Wait until she climbs over the couch. Can you guess what she's singing? (Clue: It has to do with our favorite Disney film of the moment.) I can't believe how well she talks and how big she is, guess it's time for another baby? Ha! Yeah right!

Saint George

Lovely spring day, snowing the next; nice and warm day, freezing the next. This is what pushed us into our Easter trip to Hurricane/St. George. We took off on Thursday morning and had a fairly uneventful drive down to Hurricane. We stayed at Cory's Uncle Mike and Aunt Sheila's house. They have a really nice guest room. We had a ton of fun visiting with them throughout the weekend and they even fed us an awesome dinner on Saturday night.
My family decided the warm sounded like a good idea, so they rented a condo and came down too. We played in the pool one day, shopped at the outlets while the boys golfed, tried to go to the Art Show that they have downtown every year, ended up cleaning vomit out of Emory's car seat and running to K-Mart for new clothes (note to self: NEVER EVER give Emory Peeps!!! She hates them and will spew them all over to get them out of her stomach! Also, the car wash is a great place to spray clean a car seat.), ended up going bowling at this crazy old bowling alley in Hurricane, went to church, played at the fun water feature after breakfast at the Bear Paw, and had an Easter Egg Hunt at Snow Canyon's Sand Dunes - PHEW - we were busy! We had good weather, except for one day in the middle, and it brought back all the good memories and reasons why I love AZ.

Mermaid Emory, too bad dad cut off her tail in the picture! This was the first time we've buried the girls in sand. Neither of them were big fans. They didn't get that from me! That was all we did as kids. We always had a huge sandbox and spent hours with all the neighbors creating amazing cities and landscapes or burying someone up to their necks and then tickling their nose with blades of grass! I remember begging my mom to let us take the hose in, to make mud. Oh, the simple joys of childhood.
Mouthfuls of candy.

I love how dainty she looks when she runs.
When Tessa runs it's more like "MOVE, get out the way!"
Warming up on the rock, it reminded me of lizards sun bathing.
Gotta love the red dirt that turns into red mud.
She's not a big fan of the swim diaper.
All the family, minus Grandma and Grandpa and Kirby!
Our beautiful Emory! I don't think I'll ever get over how big she's getting.
Grandma made their cute Easter dresses, of course.
Tessa was unusually photogenic, which was a first for the child who usually does this . . .The girls loved all the attention they got from Mike, Sheila, and Savannah. We chased each other around in the kitchen, Emory played dolls with Mike, we watched people tee off in their backyard(they live on Sky Mountain Golf Course), and started planning our next trip to go see them - when it's warm enough to go out on their awesome boat! Yes, Emory is wearing a yellow polka-dot bikini. She got a new swimsuit while we were down there and wanted to show everyone. Yes, Tessa is wearing a sweater vest with no shirt underneath. I think she looks sexy.
Tessa keeping score while bowling.

Where to start?

My camera and computer are not speaking, so no pictures for awhile. It's been crazy as usual around here. Last weekend Cory took us to see Monsters VS Aliens, and we had so much fun. We don't go to the movies as a whole family very often, probably because one of us ends up sitting on the stairs on one side of the theater, watching Tessa go up and down them. This was no exception, but she was quiet and happy doing it. My favorite part was Steven Colbert as President. That guy cracks me up! I laughed till I hurt when I read I am America, and So Can You! The next day after the movie we all got sick, I'm sort-of glad cause it made us slow down and just lay around in jammies for 2 days. Cory let me huddle in a corner of the couch and read book, after book. I'm a book monster, just like my girls, and read four 300+ page books in just those few days. It did include a re-read but the others were new to me and some I really loved. The 1st was an infamous blood-sucker. I was curious if I would like it after the movie, so I re-read it and remembered how easy it is to get "sucked" into those books! #2 was Enchantment by Orson Scott Card, it was recommended to me but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone. 3rd was Princess by Jean Sasson, I loved it! I love reading about lifestyles and places that are so different from mine. It's about a women from the royal family in Saudi Arabia and it's so interesting. The 4th was These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner, and this was my favorite of all. I think I liked it the most because of the women in the book's love of learning and BOOKS! I also liked the history of the Arizona territory in it; I miss me some AZ!
After we 1/2 recovered from the illness we had preschool and Enrichment Activities with freezer meal, visits from AZ friends, visits for Grandparents, and on and on. It was Cory's birthday last Monday and we celebrated by taking him a balloon and card to his new office. He just started a Neurology rotation and I love the hours! He's been getting home at 3pm and sometimes doesn't have to go till after lunch, rough life. Then we went to Wingers (of course) for all-you-can-eat wings. It is amazing how much food boys can cram in their tummies. A couple weeks ago my brother was accepted to VCU's Medical School (Congrats!) and he celebrated by eating 30 wings. Cory and Adam were not to be out done. Adam ate 31 and Cory at 32, yikes! Adam was a shade of yellowish-green for the rest of the night.
Happy 28th Birthday Cory, we love you (even though he's a boy, Emory would say)!
Emory is scaring us with her knowledge lately. I love how smart she is, but I felt this tightening in my chest when she read a book to us the other day. It's only gotten worse, more reading books she's not familiar with and now this morning she started adding for Cory and I! I love her enthusiasm for learning and give a ton of credit to preschool and her Leapster. What's next? She already wants to get her ears pierced!
Tessa is a treat! With all her new found vocabulary life is a breeze and also hilarious, as we try to decipher what she's saying. Josh and Syd came up for Conference and she yelled, "Jee-jee!" at Josh. I was dying of laughter because that's what she calls Jesus! I had to give her a little credit, he does look a little like Him?!?Conference was great! Great talks, good food, fun family time, and nice weather to play outside in, what more could we ask for?