Fairview!

I've been promising my friend Heidi that we'd come visit her for months, so we finally got down to her side of the world. Fairview Utah . . . any ideas where it is? I only knew because my grandpa had a cabin in Mt. Pleasant when I was young, and Fairview was the last town before Mt. Pleasant. It's pretty much the center of Utah, at least it looks like that on the map.
I had such a great time driving down there and passing by the familiar sights that I used to watch for on the way to the cabin. We sold it after my Grandpa Norman passed away, and I love the memories I have of that place.
The girls loved seeing all the animals and going through the mountains to visit "our Heidi".
When we pulled up to the trailer, Emory said, "I love to visit the country." I think the tip-off that we were in the country was the sheep in Heidi's backyard!?!We played at a way fun park, shopped at THE CUTEST boutique - I'll be returning soon - and went to Rodger's Dairy Freeze for dinner. I have the best memories of Rodger's; I think I've mentioned this before but as a child I was obsessed with Kraft Singles (I think it was the 8th ingredient, gelatin, that won me over) but Rodger's made the yummiest grilled cheese sandwiches, with you guessed it, Kraft Singles! So, I got the girls a "girled" cheese and ate most of it!After dinner, Richard came home from work. He took the girls for a 4-wheelin' ride. Tessa had fun, we think, but wouldn't even crack smile. Emory loved it and talked about it for days. Richard showed us some of his hidden skills, and as he rode up Emory informed him, "You just did 2 tricks!!"Thanks Heidi, Richard, and Baloo for all the fun times!
That Sunday we had friends over for dinner. When I talk about Emory and Tessa being "our girls", these are "our boys"! We just can't seem to get enough of each other. I just think it's nice to have friends that are in the same circumstances as yourself; going to school, tight with the moneys, living in a relatives basement, husbands that seem to be twins separated at birth . . . the list goes on!
Gavin tucked Emory in (her face just says bliss!) and Emory tucked Gavin in.Emory loves her some Gavin, if you can't tell from this picture!
And cute Jackson used to be so scared of Kirby, but he's turning a corner. I love his face in this picture!One last thing, it's kinda been all about Emory lately, but who can forget this cutie! She came running up to me with this on her finger and she was fiercely whispering, "Momma! A feather, a FEATHER!" She is such a toot and a sweetie rolled into one. We just can't get over how precious and naughty she is.
Some of the hilarious things she's said lately are:
(Pointing at a decorative wooden duck)
Tessa: This your duck?
Mom: Nope
Tessa: My duck!
(Everything belongs to someone is her philosophy. Cory will hug me and she'll yell, "My momma!")

I walked out to load up the car and she was upset I'd left without her, and as I walked back in the door she yelled . . . "You're back!!!"

She's been singing the "Happy Birthday to You" song for a week straight. Now she thinks it's "my(her) birthday"!

She loves all the Disney Princesses, and let me tell you, I'm going crazy over them. They're the size of Polly Pocket dolls and she takes them everywhere, with not one or two in her hands, but FIVE! I'm just waiting for the meltdown when we lose one

The Color Game: We all know this one around here. She loves to guess the color of things. She knows all the names, but hasn't put them together. She'll hold something up and say, "What color?" We'll say, "I don't know, what color is it?" She'll then list three or four colors until she gets it!

Last of all, she'll run away from you, most likely in the aisle of a grocery store, and when she gets to the end, she'll turn around and yell, "I beat you!!" I wonder which competitive person she learned that from, Cory or Emory?

It's Birthday Time!

I can't even remember when she was this small! She was a VERY demanding newborn, what with needing the reminders to breathe, being fed through a tube, and all that jazz. Well, nothing has changed, she's as demanding as ever! She wanted to be woken up by us singing "Happy Birthday To You," and it's continued throughout the morning. Oh well, it's 1 out of 365 days that I'll let her get away with it.
Anyway, here she is with her bear on her 4th B-day!

Graduates . . .

Happy Graduation Adam and Kayla! On to bigger and better things.
My little/big brother Adam had a fun and busy year as a Student Body Officer. He'll be turning his mission papers in this summer!
Cory was really proud of Kayla and her accomplishments on the golf team. She's off to Snow College? I think. Boy, I'm a bad sister-in-law.
Anyways, hallelujah, no more High School.

4 years ago . . .

I was finishing up a one of the craziest months of my life. Wow, it really is a distant memory!
May 15th, 2005: My water broke, I was only 27 weeks.
That was seriously one of the scariest days and nights of my life, and I know a lot of people who will attest to that! (Cory, my family - especially my mom, Coleman and Kellie - who were with me when my water broke) It was super intense the first few days, then things settled down. My hospital stay would follow a pretty predictable pattern; stable; contractions; IV and medicines I can't remember the names of; stable, etc. What a ride! Finally, my white blood cell count spiked, which suggested an infection. 4 weeks after my admission, out came Emory!
Like I said, those first few days were pretty terrible - I think you can tell by the look on my face!

My mom came to my rescue!Not very often that you can catch me not smiling for the camera, but I was in a bad mood. Finally, I got over it, and realized I had a task at hand - keeping my baby healthy and inside of me for as long as possible. I think I did I pretty good job!

My nurses were so fantastic. They were so good to keep me busy and took time to sit and visit with me. Many nurses would even call on their days off to check on me.
Mitra - She was from Iran and was so sweet. She got to be the surgical tech at my c-section, I was so happy!
Sweet Micie - When I think of Georgia hospitality, this little lady comes to mind. She talked just like Paula Deen! She took a trip a couple days before Emory was born, and came back so mad at me for not waiting till she got back.
Meagan - I loved this girl! She was just home from school for the summer and got a job helping out around Labor and Delivery. She always called every weekend to check on me and she even sang for us once.
Dr. Assevero - Not my favorite person, but, I guess you can't be too picky when you're an out-of-state emergency admit and you're insurance is being weird and . . . crazily enough, he ran all of the Hispanic Clinics in the area, I had a hard time picturing him speaking Spanish!
Clinica de la Mama! NO WORDS can express the laughter my mom and I had when we pulled up to this building. Now we knew why all the nurses asked why he was my doctor!Last but not least, my wonderful and adoring husband cutting my food for me! That hospital food was . . . well, lacking. So, my mom and Cory tried to bring me good stuff from the outside, every once in a while. This was my cousin's birthday celebration, and I was having a hard time cutting my steak. Like the napkin under my chin?
I am so grateful for modern medicine and the wonderful things that can come about because of it! (I'd like to think my strong will helped out a little!)
PS One funny little story; every other day I would have my blood drawn to check . . . stuff, anyways, it was usually the same guy. After a couple of times, he stopped talking and started looking at me funny. A week later, he finally asked me when I was going home. I said, "After I have my baby." His eyes got really wide and he said, "YOU'RE PREGNANT!" My belly was probably the size of most peoples after they've had their baby. It definitely made me feel better and gave me a good laugh!

Sorry . . .

I thought I'd downloaded a picture of the "Cap'n" and Emory's Q&A sheet, but I hadn't. I think my computer is in cahoots with my phone to take me down, one electronic device at a time. (I need to get the X-BOX on my side before they get to him!) So, Cory you were right, they weren't just invisible to you. Anyways, I stuck them in the prior post, located below.
On a foodie note, I came across a couple fun recipes this last week.
#1) Wing Sauce - Just the way we like it! Sweet and Spicy. This one I heard about here, and it was spectacular! If you love yourself some Wingers, I swear this is their exact recipe.
1 bottle of Frank's Red Hot Sauce (no substitutes)
1 bag of brown sugar
Combine over medium heat, stirring, until the brown sugar is nor longer grainy.
Pour that over some wings or chicken strips and voila! We made it on Memorial Day after a fun day of swimming, put some frozen french fries in the oven, and for a lot cheaper than the "real" restaurant, enjoyed some "sticky fingers".
#2) Me Oh My Garlic Toasted Spaghetti Pie - I made this one for the whole family last night, and it was a big hit. It's my kind of recipe; simple, yummy, and a little different from the norm.

Oy Vey!

What a month! I feel think I've barely sat down since May started. We've had so much fun stuff going on I'll try to remember it all.
I forgot to write about going to Wicked last month. My parents gave all the kids tickets to the musical Wicked, for Christmas! I can't even express how fantastic it was. Seriously, there's been lots of hype about it and it was all true! I loved every minute.
We've had another visit to Logan, full of fun. Here are some classic shots from "Grandpa's Tree" with Uncle Chase.

We went to the Willow Park Zoo and saw a really cool peacock. He was really cool to watch until he decided to "get busy" right in front of us. It was a little disturbing to say the least! Cory love his taste of Dermatology and is as undecided as ever about which specialty to go for. We also had the chance to make a little girl's wish come true. There was a community play being put on while we were up in Cache Valley, and it happened to be Peter Pan! Emory is OBSESSED with Peter Pan. So, Grandma Hulse and I took her to the show. It was a community play, so we thought there was no way we needed to call ahead early, but we should have. Sold Out. They put our name on a wait list, and we waited and waited, and watched group after group get called in ahead of us. They finally came out and said they were full and that it would be showing 2 more nights that week. We told them this was our last day before we went back to Salt Lake, and they quickly set up 2 folding chairs for us. I held Emory on my lap and she could barely contain her joy, she was shaking and shivering with it! Peter Pan flew right in front of us, and we could have reached out and touched John's bed! It was "so wonderful," she kept saying. The best part is when I took Emory out to the bathroom for intermission. I left my bag by my chair since it was basically a big Family Home Evening there, and figured it'd be safe. Well, pirates stole me hand bag right from under me chair!! When I walked back in there is was, my green zebra diaper bag, surrounded by the scurviest scum that's sailed the seven seas. I saw a break in their ranks and swooped in to save my bag. I didn't realize I dragged Em with me though. They tried to shanghai her, but I swung her around and saved both her and the bag! It was hilarous!
I got an amazing gift for Mother's Day, a new running/jogging stroller. I am in love with it! If I could hop in with them it would be the perfect stroller! Thanks Cory! Don't the look happy to be in there? They are so much better in this than in my bike trailer (which I sold to help pay for the new one). In the bike trailer, Emory would come out with black-eyes and bald patches on her head, while Tessa would be holding hand fulls of hair! Naughty Tessa!I also got another new calling, I'm now a Beehive Advisor and Camp Director. It's excited and stressful and super fun! I've already done a lot of fun stuff like a BBQ with all the YW, a joint activity where the youth spent 3 hours volunteering at a soup kitchen downtown, and yesterday Camp Kick-Off! I'm very excited about it all, but also wondering what I've gotten myself into? Here's a rare photo-op of Captain Rachel "She's the Maughan" who graced the girls with her presence for a fun skit. I had lots of help for some great ladies and am really looking forward to the real thing. It took me 2 full days to get everything together for Kick-Off, so I'm estimating that times 100 for the real thing!
Emory also had her Pre-school Graduation last week and it was a hoot! They sang songs and got a great scrap book and it was just priceless. Another thing that was priceless: If you can't read it, it was a Q&A where she was asked:
I want to be a . . . mom and woman like my mom . . . when I grow up. I melted when I read it!
She has made some great friends and is already looking forward to next year!Cory's back in AZ doing some schooling and testing and such. We miss him and can't wait for the little bit of time off that he has when he gets back!
PS I learned this fun little trick! Glitter Toes, or I like to call them Treasure Toes. We'll be doing them at Camp. I couldn't believe how easy they were, since some salons are charging upwards of $40 for them! Yikes!
PPS Swimming season has also begun, and my girls are fish once again! Mark my words, Emory will be swimming on her own by the end of the summer and Tessa skin is already 40x's darker than anyone at our house. She's got her dad's skin, that's for sure. Emory is also back to the bob! I LOVE IT!

Toots and the Kitchen Sink!

I found some cute little tutorials that I'm loving. How useful is this?!

It's a bag lined with vinyl for swimsuits or "accident" clothes or whatever. And all three of these tutorials make me think of SPRING!

BabiesBirthdaysBelts

Oh, and I wanna make one of these . . . I guess I'm just in a crafty mood!We had some fun in Logan last weekend. The girls and I drove up to visit Cory, who's doing an elective rotation there - 2 weeks Anesthesiology and 2 weeks Dermatology, both of the specialties he's interested in. We had fun introducing Drew to the Kitchen Sink at Angies, going on walks, playing with our some of our favorite dogs - Cookie and Casper, and just laying around. Emory went camping with her Grandma Lisa, Grandpa Flint and Uncle Chase. It rained most of the time, but she said she had lots of fun! Tessa felt "naked" with her sister gone, but I think it's good for them to do things on their own once in a while.