Wednesday

This morning I took Eliza again to school. This time, she played a little on the playground before they blew the whistle. So I showed her where to put her backpack down before she played. I waited until they blew the whistle and showed her how she would then line up. It's all so new to her--I am glad I could be there to help show her learn the ropes. Really--it seems so easy, but to a kindergartner, it's all so new and I am sure can be scary.

After we dropped her off, we went to Target for some milk and a few other items. Then it was back home to play and to keep busy. After lunch I put Hattie and Ellie down for naps, and Libby had a friend come over for a play date. They had such a great time together. They played Polly Pockets, Barbies, dolls, house, etc. We also painted nails and had a snack. So cute! I think Libby enjoyed having her over and it made her feel special. We took her home, then picked up Eliza. It was another good day. After that we went swimming at Becky's house. It was a bit crazy and I didn't get to chat as much with others as I was trying to take care of Hattie and Ellie. But I think Eliza and Libby had a fun time.

Tonight was mutual and boy was it a mess!!!! We had to label the metal chairs at the new ward building with the stake name and building name. We had way too much "help". Some of the girls weren't as concerned as making it look as nice as I was hoping. And some of the less mature ones (beehives) were being silly with the paint...getting their hands ALL dirty. So needless to say, one of the leaders had to clean up a big mess in the bathroom. Nice. We had to touch up a lot of the chairs with alcohol and paint thinner. So annoying! When we finish the job I think just one class will do it and I have an idea to make the stencil better.

Picture info:

1. Eliza giving the a-okay about her first day of school.

2. Hattie posing

3. I had a piece of cardboard--from the inside of Eliza's backpack--Eliza took it, grabbed some scissors and created that girl in no time! Seriously. She has some talent!

4. Eliza LOVES helping my mom make the little hats on the loom. Eliza calls her and asks if she can knit. She wants her to come over and bring her looms.

5. Ellie's new favorite place to play...in the little niches in the family room. Brian moved the speakers into the new room.

6. My big helper!! If you need anything cleaned or organized, she is the one to call!

Have a good day.

Day 2

Today went better. Eliza was in better spirits when I picked her up from school, so that made me happy.

She wanted me to take her and pick her up today again (versus doing a carpool). So this morning, I took her to school and she seemed excited. Then I came back home and filled our day with playing and trying to keep things picked up. My friend Terri came over and she taught me a few things in Photoshop. I am so excited to continue to learn more--I am afraid it's going to be addicting! It is a lot of fun to see the possibilities of what you can do to a photo.

In the afternoon, we packed up and picked up Eliza and our other carpool kindergartner and took her home. Eliza ended up staying at playing at her house, which was fun for her. But when Libby realized Eliza was staying, she cried. It was so heart-wrenching--it made me so sad! My parents came over later, though, and Libby had a play-date with her grandpa, which she totally ate up. She is a definite cruise director when he comes over.

But Eliza said her day went well and that she enjoyed it. She told me that one of the boys who had cried yesterday was playing by himself and just playing in the sand. Eliza said she went up to him and said hi and asked if he wanted to play with them. That made my heart smile. What a sweet and caring girl she is. She said that he said, "Yes," and then came and played with her and some other friends. So sweet.

Another funny story...I asked her about her lunch. She is taking her lunch. School lunch is so expensive! $2.25 a day! Yikes. So we pack her lunch and today she had a PB&honey, a granola bar and a drink. (She didn't want the mandarin oranges again like she had on Monday because she spilled them.) I asked her if she liked the granola bar and she kind of got a look on her face. Turns out she didn't eat it. She said two other girls wanted it, so she gave it to them. I asked her, "What did they say?" (thinking--OK--there better not be bullies in kindergarten!!) They just saw it and innocently thought it looked yummy so they asked if they could have some. Eliza let them split it! So I talked to her about being nice vs. getting enough to eat for lunch! She wants to pack 3 bars tomorrow. Ha ha!

1st Day of Kindergarten

Today was Eliza's first day of school. We got up and got ready. She picked out her own outfit and looked very cute. She seemed somewhat excited and a bit nervous. We got every one ready and headed to her school. Brian and I (and all the girls) went in and dropped Eliza off. She went right in and got to coloring a picture. I did pretty good, too. There really wasn't time to cry as we were just trying to learn where to put her backpack and lunch, etc. My heart got stomped on a bit, thinking of her on her own at school all day, but I survived. After we dropped her off, we came home and played. Libby asked once what time Eliza gets home. She tried to play with Ellie, but that is not always easy. I think as time goes on, they'll become good playing buddies. After lunch, I put Ellie down for a nap (I am trying to figure out a schedule) soon followed by Hattie. During lunch was so lonely! I'm used to having Eliza there eating with us, but not having her there made it sad for me! That was probably the hardest part of the day. While they were both sleeping though, I made dinner and Libby emptied the dishwasher. I think her and I are making a great team. After we did our "chores," we played several games of Uno and one game of Life. After that, I loaded everyone up and went to Office Max (the new one by our house!) to get a few things for mutual on Wednesday. Then it was time to pick up Eliza. She ran to the car and was excited to see us. As were we! She had a good day. She said she missed me and I think it was a long day. She has already asked me, "When is Saturday?" I hope though that once they get into more "learning" instead of housekeeping and learning routine, she will eat it up and have more fun. I hope so!

I think the biggest adjustment is for me and Brian. It's nice that she went to school today, but we have to turn around and do it again tomorrow and for the next 9 months! It will take some getting used to for sure. I hope I am up for the challenge.

Here is to day 2!

I've Been Tagged...

by Kristi.

Jobs I've had:
1. Cold Stone Creamery (yum)
2. receptionist at Barrett/Eastman Property Management
3. high school English teacher
4. English professor at GCC

Movies I could watch over and over again:
1. High School Musical
2. Princess and the Pauper (yes, a Barbie movie, but it's cute)
3. I don't really do movies

Places I've lived:
1. Glendale, AZ
2. Surprise, AZ
3. Peoria, AZ
4.

Favorite TV Shows:
1. American Idol
2. The Apprentice
3. Man vs. Wild
4. Dirty Jobs

Favorite Dishes:
1. Pizza
2. Chicken stuffed tortillas from Cheesecake Factory
3. anything Mexican
4. Steak and Bleu from Babbos

Websites I visit:
1. My friends' blogs
2. Sally Jean
3. photography sites
4. azcentral.com

Places I'd like to be:
1. Disneyland
2. Disneyworld
3. Disney cruise (do you see a trend here?!)
4. shopping or somewhere inside in Park City in the winter sipping hot chocolate

Tagging
1. Kari
2. Terri
3. Emali
4.

Weekend

Yesterday Brian picked up Sarah on his way home from work to babysit. At the beginning of our date I took pictures of a cute little family at Cibola Vista. I tried my new trick I saw on a Photojojo newsletter. Basically you cut a Pez dispenser to fit in the flash hotshoe of your camera. It worked pretty well in the beginning in getting the kids to look and smile. Here is a cute one of one of their little boys. He was definitely the hardest to photograph--he is 15 months old and on the move! He was not interested in having his picture taken at all!

After that we went to Gordon Biersch for dinner. Brian had gotten a gift card from there, so we decided to use it. We had to laugh as we told the waitress after she gave us a run-down on all the beers they had, "I know this sounds a little strange to come here when we don't drink!" The food was great though. We had the garlic fries for an appetizer and shared the fire-roasted chicken and fettuccine. It was so delicious. It had a pesto cream sauce on it. We both really loved it. Then we headed to Target for a gift for one of the ladies I visit teach. We got some Cold Stone and headed home.

Today we did odds and ends around the house and cleaned up a bit and did a few errands. We went and looked at my brother's (and family) new house they are buying. It was fun to finally see that. Then we went to Brian's parents' for a little bit before heading home.

Tomorrow we get to go to church in our new building. Last week was the first week in, but since we were gone, we missed it!

Good night.

On the Homefront

Eliza starts kindergarten on Monday. I can't believe it's finally here. We are excited for her, but I feel so nervous. It's been like a boot camp here the past week as I am trying to think of everything I want to make sure she knows as she is thrown out to the wolves in the real world! Now I can't protect her as much as I would like here at home! It's so weird knowing she'll be out there making choices and hearing and seeing things that I would rather she didn't. I hope we have taught her well so she does make good choices. This whole week I have been trying to think of everything and she just thinks I am weird for always having something to tell or teach her. She is like, "Moooom." It's rather funny. I am reminding her that she'll see other kids wearing things and doing and saying things that we don't allow in our home and hoping she understands that every home has their own rules, etc. etc. I've talked to her about respecting teachers, and being friends with all the kids, integrity and honesty and not cheating, etc. I have taught her those things all along, but with school starting Monday, I've felt the need for a life lessons boot camp! We met her teacher last night and we were very impressed with her. She seems very on the ball and I think will be great for Eliza.

In other home news...Hattie is getting bigger and bigger. Basically I think she is a chunk! So cute though! Ellie is getting closer to two years old, I am afraid. She is still so sweet and fun, but she is wanting to be more and more independent with things like eating. Libby starts preschool the week of labor day. I think she is excited but a little nervous. We went on Tuesday night to get their backpacks. I thought Eliza was just getting one, but Brian wanted Libby to get a new one since she always just gets the hand-me-downs. They picked out matching backpacks...black and pink Hello Kitty ones. They were only $12.50 at Kohl's! Score!

Wednesday night was mutual--a stake opening social for all the wards. It was a service project, followed by a dance. It was fun to dance a little and enjoy the music.

I got copies of my latest book the other day. Designing With Details. I can't believe it's, sheesh, probably my 25th book at least. Hard to believe!

I have a photo shoot tonight I am doing. It's a family of 4 and I am going to do them at Cibola Vista. I have never done pictures there, but they have a lot of great places for pictures. Then Brian and I are headed to dinner. Yum!

OK--some photos from our trip.

1. the pierced lady

2. An amazingly beautiful park in Edinburgh

3. Yummy crepe stand--we got milk chocolate, so they put in these Cadbury "buttons". So good!

4. The castle at the Military Tattoo...they lit it up with different colors throughout the performance

5. Brian and I before our last dinner

6. Our dish from the Indian restaurant

7. From the Military Tattoo

8. Stirling Castle

9. Holyrod Palace

10. From the Military Tattoo

11. in front of Edinburgh Castle

12. a clock made from flora and fauna

13. on the Royal Mile

14. busy Royal Mile b/c of the Edinburgh festival

15. Edinburgh Castle

Rest of the Trip

OK--
So here is the scoop about the rest of our trip. Pictures are still forthcoming. Really. I promise. I am too tired at night to put them up--I know--go figure! It's the jet lag.

August 2, 2007

Today we woke up at 9:30!! We had to be down to breakfast by 10 or we would have missed it! The curtains in our room make the room so dark, I had no idea what time it was. It felt good to sleep in. But we got up and threw some clothes on and had breakfast. Then we came back to our room and got showered and ready. Then we headed out to Edinburgh. We walked around and went to several cathedrals and museums. We saw St. John’s and St. Giles Cathedral and St. Cuthbert’s, too. We went into a couple others, too. They are just totally amazing—the architecture it magnificent and it’s a wonder how anyone ever built them! In Scotland, there are a lot of museums and most of them are free. So we went to a few—an art museum, an art gallery and a place that depicted the people of Scotland from a long time ago. We also walked down to the other end of the Royal Mile and bought some souvenirs. We had a light Mexican food mid day meal at Pancho Villas. It was different Mexican food than we are used to, but it was very good. Then we got some ice cream. It was delicious. I am not sure what made it different, but it was so good. I had 2 scoops—chocolate and nutella. Brian just got chocolate. At 5 o’clock we had reservations at Mary King’s Close for a tour. A close is a very small alleyway in between 2 houses or town houses. But a couple hundred years ago the gov’t wanted to build a city chambers building, so they razed several town homes and built the chambers over the top. But remnants of the homes and the closes were all left behind. So we toured those under the street. It was a fun tour. All along the Royal Mile again were lots of interesting people showing their talents and selling their wares. After our tour, we went back to the hotel, then went with the EJ group to dinner at Mansfield Traquair. It’s an old church that is now used for functions. It was a very beautiful, amazing building with amazing murals. We sat with a couple of great families, so that was fun. And the food was good. There was potatoes, chicken, lasagna, salads, etc. The lasagna was my favorite—just very creamy! Dessert was cream puffs and some delicious ice cream. After dinner we took the bus back and are just hanging out in our room.

August 3, 2007

This morning we got up and ate breakfast by about 9 AM. We both opted for a light breakfast. I had cold cereal. After breakfast we ventured down to the royal mile where we set out to see a play as part of the Fringe Edinburgh Festival. We bought tickets to the 1:05 showing of Roald Dahl’s The Giraffe, the Pelly & Me. Before it started, we ate lunch at Rocco—an Italian food place. Brian got another pizza and I had a roast chicken sandwich. It was good but quite heavy on the mayo. Yikes! I wiped A LOT off! Then we went to a venue called C Too. It was a little theater kind of under a building. The play was cute. It was just a short 45 minute play—aimed at children, but it was fun. After the play we headed back to our room where we took about a 3 hour nap! It felt great to sleep! Then we went down to a little restaurant called Shakespeare’s where we got free access to the Internet so we could check our e-mail. After we did that, we went back down to the Royal Mile because tonight was the Military Tattoo. They didn’t let in until 8:15, so we walked the street—searching for some ice cream. The place we got it last time was closed and so was the fudge shop where I wanted to get some “tablet.” It’s like a cross between fudge and Boston cream that my grandma used to make. So good! We settled on a milkshake at a place called “Wannaburger.” It was probably the best shake we have ever had. It was so chocolate-y and had little bits of chocolate in it. We loved it! After our shake, we made our way up the royal mile to the castle for the Military Tattoo. We were about 7 rows up on the North side right by the castle. Basically it’s a celebration with all sorts of military bands and drill teams. It was fantastic!!! The bands were amazing. There was a drill team from a Taiwan all girls’ school. They twirled rifles and had a band. There was also a team of kids aged 6-16 who rode motorcycles anywhere from 60 CC to 240cc. They did some crazy tricks! (pyramids, riding backwards, crossing between each other really fast, riding on a ladder on the bike, etc.) They projected some images on the castle as they talked about music through the ages. We are glad we went to see it!

Now we are trying to get warm in our room. It was a bit chilly outside and very windy!

August 4, 2007

This morning we got up at 7 AM and got ready and down to breakfast. We had to meet the coach at 8:30 for our tour. We went to the Stirling Castle over in Stirling. We got a little tour by our tour guide, then we got to explore on our own. It was very cool and interesting. The ride there was beautiful. Very green, lots of trees, rolling hills. The castle has some very old and some “new” parts. It’s crazy how they lived back then and how much power the royalty had. They could do whatever they wanted and no one questioned them because they were the king or queen! After we looked around a bit, we ate lunch at the castle at the Unicorn café. We both had sandwiches, chips that were soooo good and dessert. I had “millionaire shortbread” which is a caramel shortbread with chocolate on top. Brian had chocolate cake. After the castle, we got back on the “coach” (what they call big busses) and were taken to Loch Lomand (like the kids’ song). It’s the biggest fresh water lake in the UK. It was beautiful, too. We got to take a boat ride around part of the loch (lake). Beautiful scenery—so green—hills, lots of trees. It was a great time. After our “cruise” we headed back through Glasgow to Edinburgh. For dinner we went to an Indian restaurant called Gandhi’s on recommendation from the concierge. It was so delicious! We have never been to an Indian restaurant before, so we weren’t sure what to expect or what to order. We settled on a chicken Tandoori dish with lots of fresh herbs and spices. Brian was going to order butter chicken, but we decided (with a lot of help from our waiter) that we would get some rice and bread, too, so we split one dish which turned out to be plenty. But we loved it! So many different flavors and tastes going on! The sweet bread was very good, too….almost like a sopapilla with honey. We want to try more Indian places when we get home. After dinner we went to Tesco Express (a small grocery store) and picked up some more chocolates to bring home and share. We came back to our room and headed up to the pool. It was too cold for me, but Brian got in and swam for a little bit. We also called the girls and they are doing well. I am excited to get home to see them on Monday.

Sunday August 5, 2007

This morning we slept in until about 9:20. Then we quickly got ready and headed to breakfast. It was toast and jam for me. Brian likes the chocolate muffins and hash browns, so he had those, too. After breakfast we came back to the room and got showered and ready. We intended to go to church, so we got ready for church and headed down to catch the bus. We waited in the bus stop and the one bus we needed—15—drove right past. It didn’t even stop! I guess what you have to do it flag it down. OK—so we were ready when the next one would come at 11:44 AM. Church started at 12:20. 11:44 came and went and no bus. We waited until about 12 and no bus. In fact, hardly any buses came. Princes street—a main artery—was blocked off for a parade at 2 PM to kick off the Festival and the buses were running. We were bummed because we wanted to go to church and see the building and see what church was like here. We tried though. So we came back to the room and changed clothes. It was very cold and drizzly today. I enjoyed the rain. We went down and grabbed some lunch at Baguette Express across the street from the hotel. I wish we would have found that place earlier! It was so inexpensive and good! You could get a baguette with any fixings you wanted for 1 pound 90. Or you could get a baked potato with anything on it for 2 pounds. That is what I had. I had a potato with butter, cheese and onion. Brian had soup—ham and lentil—and plain baguettes. So good and cheap! Next time we’ll know where to go!

The rest of the afternoon we were lazy and relaxed. I took a nap and Brian started packing things up. He took a little nap, too. Then we got ready for our last dinner. It was a dressy one—I wore my brown polka-dotted dress and Brian wore a suit. The food was okay—we enjoyed the kids’ buffet the most—chicken fingers, fries, noodles and veggies! During dinner they had a couple of Scottish dancers, then a Scottish band came and performed. It was great. We sat by a couple and another couple with their 2 girls. One just graduated from high school and one from college. This was their “gift.” It was fun to think that that might be like two of our girls later! Now we are finishing packing and getting ready for bed. We have to be down in the lobby tomorrow at 6:45 AM!

August 6, 2007

Today we head home from Scotland. We got up this morning at 5 AM. We wanted to get breakfast before we left, but the restaurant didn’t open until 6:30 and we thought that would cut it too close. In the lobby they had muffins, croissants and some drinks for those who had to leave early. We left the hotel at 6:45 and were bussed to the airport. We got there and got all checked in. We only had to wait a little bit before our plane boarded. While we waited I got a muffin and hot chocolate. We wanted to use the last of our pounds so we didn’t come home with any. We ended up with only 20 pence left. Not too bad! Our plane was delayed about 20 minutes, so by about 10 AM Scotland time, we were on our way. It was a 7 hour flight! And boy did it feel like it! I listened to my iPod, read, slept and watched most of 2 movies!!! That is good for me. We watched Are We Done Yet and RV. They were both entertaining but nothing I would watch again. I got pretty bored. We had two good meals though. One was chicken and rice and the other was a warm lunch meat sandwich with cheese. I had a middle seat and Brian was by the window. I had to go to the bathroom and kept trying to hold it because the lady next to me slept a lot! And none of the little noises would wake her up. Finally when our second meal came, she woke up, so I waited until we finished eating, then I got up and went. Boy did that feel good! We got to Newark on time and we have a 4.5 hour layover here. We’ve tried to fill the time by getting ice cream, checking our e-mails, looking at the shops, etc. One of the airport workers here filled us in that if we went in the center of the food court, you could use the internet connection that is upstairs in the president’s club. It worked! Score! I looked for a book in the bookstore to occupy my time on the way home, but everything I wanted was about $15 and more than I wanted to spend. So I decided I would do some editing and writing that I need to get done. I hope that fills my time.

OK--that is our report from our trip. My kids are waking up, so the pictures will come later!

Our Trip So Far...

This will have to be without pictures until we can find someway to upload them. But here is how our trip has gone so far...

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

We got to the airport yesterday at about 8:30 AM and got all checked in. We grabbed a quick bite to eat, then just waited for our plane to board. There was free wireless internet in the airport, so that was nice. We got on the plane and flew almost 5 hours to Liberty Airport in Newark, NJ. It was a pretty uneventful plane ride. I read a couple of magazines and started and nearly finished No Doubt About It by Sheri Dew. I love that book. I don’t remember if I have read it before, but it is great! So many wonderful insights and things that will help me be a better person. I highly recommend that book. Brian read the newest Harry Potter book (number 7) the whole way. We got a cheeseburger on the plane with some suspicious light-colored meat. I passed on eating that and just opted for my salad and kit kat they provided. Brian ate the burger and said it was good. I’ll take his word for it. When we arrived in Newark we had 4 hour lay over, but it gave us plenty of time to walk around, eat and read some more. We ate at a little Portuguese restaurant in the airport. The service was soooooooo slow but the food was pretty good. At about 10:45 PM local time we boarded our plane, taxied for what seemed like forever, then started on our 5 hour and 54 minute flight to Edinburgh. It wasn’t as long as I thought it would be. I did a little sleeping and mostly reading. I finished my book. Brian read a lot, too, and I think he is almost done with it. We got a really yummy beef and potato dinner with some of the good Pepperidge Farm cookies. They also served a light breakfast snack, but we both passed on that. We touched down around 10:45 AM, Edinburgh time, went through customs where I got asked a lot of questions. The lady was like, “What are you doing here? Do you know anyone here? Are you here for the festival? (I said, ‘No.’) Then she said, “Then what brings you here? Who are you here with? Where is your husband? etc…” Yikes! Do I look suspicious?!?!? After that we got our luggage and were met by some travel reps from Edward Jones. She took us outside where the weather was gorgeous and we were picked up by our “chauffeur.” He drove a VW Transporter. It was a nice little mini-van type vehicle. I told Brian that would be a perfect car for us! It seats 6 nicely in the back and it still has a ton of cargo room. It’s weird to see them driving on the opposite side of the car and on the other side of the road. I look at other cars and see the passenger (who in the US would be the driver) and think, “Ahh! Watch where you are going! Look ahead!” It was about a 25 minute ride to our hotel. I really had to focus and concentrate really hard to understand what our driver was saying! I didn’t catch some of it…just nodded and said, “Oh yeah.” or “Cool.”

When we got to the hotel we went to our room. It’s nothing spectacular, but a clean place to sleep and get ready. We were both so hungry, so we went out in search of something to eat. We found a great Italian food place (Bar Italiano). We had a magherita pizza, which was delicious! It is hard trying to convert things to pounds. Our lunch was like 6.75 pounds and they take credit cards, but you have to tip in pounds, too. We tipped 2 pounds, which equals out to a little over 4 dollars.

I was afraid to go to sleep because my friend Rachel said when they went to Rome they went to bed in the afternoon and didn’t wake up until the next day at 1 in the afternoon. But we were both so tired, so we got a wake up call for 5:30 PM. It was a great nap and we both slept like a dream. We got up at 5:30 and we got ready for our dinner. It was our “Welcome to Edinburgh” dinner. When it was time to go in, there was a bagpipe player in all the Scottish dress playing. It sounded really cool. Dinner was scrumptious. I really liked the Mediterranean pasta salad. There were also “tatties” (mashed potatoes), pork, ravioli, and beef. The beef was interesting. It was good, but just different than the “beef” I am used to. It was very light and just totally was so tender. The desserts were tasty, too. There was a rich, delectable Mississippi mud pie, shortbread and a lemon soufflé that was so light and creamy. Yum!

After dinner we just walked around the town for a little bit. We were trying to get to the Royal Mile, but we didn’t find it. One street we went down was a little seedy….bars—of all kinds—lined the streets. We quickly walked past. We did see a lot of cool architecture and buildings. There was an interesting and very pretty cemetery we walked by. We also saw the Edinburgh castle—it’s beautiful and so amazing. We hope to tour that this week. The weather is beautiful! It’s probably in the 60s. Lovely.

It sure is an interesting feeling/experience to be in a different country. I feel like I am going to do something wrong or against custom or something. I told Brian I feel a bit out of place here, but imagine going to like China—where you would really feel out of place.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

We both had a great night sleep last night. This morning we got up at about 7:15 and went down to breakfast. Brian had meetings that started at 8 and mine started at 9:15. In my meeting—the spouses meeting—basically we did introductions, heard about a 30 second firm update, then listened to a tour lady talk about all we could do on our trip.

Both of our meetings got out before 11, so we scheduled some activities, then walked down Princes St. looking at all the cool stuff. We ate a cool looking place called Kenilworth. We both ordered cheeseburgers, but the meat was a weird-looking, light colored meet and it had a strange taste to it. It definitely wasn’t McDonalds or any other American hamburger for that matter. I ate about 1/3 of it. Brian didn’t mind it too much. At least the Ciabatta bread it was on was good. After lunch we came back to the hotel where we met up to take the city tour. We got on a charter bus and got a tour of part of the city. We saw the Queen’s Palace, went down the Royal Mile and stopped at the Edinburgh Castle. We got a little tour there, then we got to explore on our own. It sure is an amazing castle and very pretty. After the castle, we strolled down the Royal Mile and picked up a few souvenirs. For dinner we went to Bella Italia. Yum yum. It was the best meal I’ve had in a while. Brian had a pizza and I order linguine rustica. It was just linguine with a butter and olive oil sauce and some chicken and sun-dried tomatoes. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, stopping at Somerfield’s for some chocolate and at McDonalds. Brian got a Rolo shake (something new they have) and I got a McFlurry with Cadbury Dairy Chocolate in it. It was great. Before we got to our room we called our girls. They are having fun. Eliza is homesick. But they are surviving and hanging in there.

Oh yeah…Right now in Edinburgh is the Edinburgh Festival and the Military Tattoo. Actually it starts on Friday and miraculously we were able to get tickets. They have been sold out since Christmas, but one of the tour people here had some connections. But on the Royal Mile, there are a lot of “artists” and “actors.” Lots of very interesting people, too. At one point, Brian got my attention and kind of motioned toward someone and did like a “Whoa…she is very interesting/weird” look. I looked and immediately said, “Oh my gosh. Take a picture of her right now. Do you know who that is?” It was Elaine Davidson—the lady in the Guinness book of world records for the most body piercings. Freaky and ouch! I couldn’t believe we saw here. So we quickly snapped some picture. We did it nonchalantly although from the pictures it probably looks like we were stalking her!

Airport

We are at the airport right now waiting to board our flight. I can think of only one thing we forgot! The cord to download our pictures to the computer. Ugh! We'll see if we can find anything there that we can buy. At least our camera will hold a lot of pictures and I also brought my other camera with two flash cards with it. I think we remembered everything else.

Brian's sister is watching our girls this week and I think she was excited and ready for the week! Thanks to some great friends and family my girls have some play dates scheduled that should keep them busy and entertained!

Last night I called to confirm our flights and the man I talked to gave us better seats on the flight to Edinburgh. I am not for sure, but I am thinking he put us from coach to business class. That was nice and will be more comfy for sure.

So here's to a great first day of our trip!

Camp and Dance Recital

It's been a week! Girls camp--The University of Eternity--was this week and I had a great time. I didn't see any mice, so that was a nice treat. There were skunks but they didn't bug me or our cabin. Of course, we saw some less than desirable bugs, but nothing that was too bothersome. We went up on Monday and did certification--the best one probably being the dance we learned. My fellow "dorm" mom and I were grooving right along with the girls. It was fun.

Tuesday was hike day. I went with the 2nd years on a 5 mile hike. It wasn't too bad and the scenery was beautiful. It was also overcast, making it great hiking weather. There was more certification in the afternoon, but my other cabin mom didn't do the hike with them, so we switched off and I got to take a shower while they were at that. Nice. It felt great! That night was the wacky talent show. There for sure were some wacky talents. The best one though was a lip sync two girls did to "Start of Something New" from High School Musical. It was so entertaining and funny. After the talent show, the stake YW presidency did a faith walk where they talked about modern day pioneers and challenged the girls to possess certain virtues in their lives.

On Wed. I went with the 2nd years to the Tonto Bridge. It was beautiful. We thought we were going to hike down a little bit to some water where the girls would play, then we'd hike out. WRONG! Instead, we hiked through the bridge and continued on about a mile or so on a rocky, rocky hike. It was a lot of fun though.

That afternoon we had some ward time, so we had little kiddie pools of water, some salt scrubs and all the stuff for them to do their own pedicure. It was relaxing and fun to be with our ward girls, since we were all mixed up for camp. Then we assembled hygiene kits for humanitarian service. That night was Bishop's night where the bishops of each ward came up. The did a little "game show" where they showed pictures of each one when they were younger and they had to guess which one it was. After that we separated into wards and had testimony meeting and dessert that our Bishop brought up. Yum!

Thursday morning we got up, cleaned and left. I got home by 10:45 so that was nice. It was great to be home and see my girls and Brian. They did great while I was gone and Brian had fun with them. I came home to a clean house, too.

Friday night was Eliza and Libby's big performance of their mini musical "Magic." For the past 2 weeks, they've been practicing an hour a day. It was such a darling show. So, so cute! When the curtain opened, I thought Libby was going to run off the stage and cry--she looked so scared and had a quivering chin. But the music started and she got into it. Eliza was such a star and knew every move and was such an animated dancer. She did her line perfectly, too. The funniest part for me was when they did a move we call the "Perry," based on something Brad Perry from channel 3 does. Eliza did it perfectly; it was hilarious. You'd think I had taught her or something (wink, wink!). Actually my dad does it, too, and I'm sure she took some pointers from him! :) I was so proud of them, though. Libby did so well. She was excited and it looked like she had a lot of fun dancing on stage. I was so proud that she got up there and did that. For her, that is a big accomplishment. Brian had a Rush concert that night, so I had gotten a babysitter for Ellie and Hattie. So after the recital, Eliza, Libby and I went to dinner at On the Border. It was fun to spend time with them.







Today we did a few errands and our girls helped us pack for our trip. We also got to go to our new church building to put my stuff in the young women's closet. It is a beautiful building. And it's so nice being only less than 3 minutes from our house.

That's all for now!

Girls Camp

Signs of girls camp are all around!!

I am almost done getting ready.


Last night Brian and I went on date night. We grabbed dinner with some friends at Texas Road House. We had a great time chatting and chatting some more! Then I picked up some shampoo and conditioner at Beauty Brand's liter sale...liters are only $10.98. Then we went to Wal-Mart for the final stuff for camp.

Today Brian had a training for Kiwanis club. He is the secretary next year, so he had to go to training for that. So the girls and I went over to my parents' to drop some stuff off and to visit. My girls always have such a fun time over there. In the afternoon after we and Brian got home, we worked on moving the playroom over into the new room. The room is almost done. He put the door on on Friday, but it needs to be painted. Then it's just a little more tile work, texture, carpet stretched, tacked back down and touch ups. We also cleaned out what will now be Ellie's room and moved some furniture in there. We are excited how it is shaping up.

Late this afternoon we got dinner over at the resort. Every saturday they have a hot dog BBQ, so we did that, then Brian took the older three swimming. Hattie and I did a couple of errands. When we got home, we all worked a little bit, then the girls went to bed. Brian and I worked a while longer, and now I am sitting down to rest!

Fireside and Pasta Dinner

I forgot to mention the youth fireside we had on Sunday night. Actually Becky tells all about it on her blog. She talked a little bit about the importance of keeping journals, then had each person fill out a little written time capsule. It was a fun and easy way to document who we are at this moment. I think the kids enjoyed it and it was something different.

Today was full of paint fumes at our house. He got most everything painted and most of the tile down. It sure is taking shape!


Tonight I made one of my favorite dinners--Garlic Chicken Pasta. I love it because it can be eaten warm (which we did for dinner), then I usually have the leftovers cold. Yum! My friend Karolyn gave me the recipe and I love to make it! Libby even loves it--she had 2 servings tonight. Here is the recipe:


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SUPER YUMMY GARLIC CHICKEN PASTA

1 (16-oz.) pkg. Farfalle pasta (bowties)
1 c. heavy whipping cream
4-6 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2-3 cloves garlic or dash of garlic salt
1 T. pepper
1/2 c. butter
1 lb. bacon (baked in oven at 400, then crumbled)
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 (12-oz.) Lawry's mesquite marinade with lime juice


Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Boil pasta. Cut chicken ( I do with kitchen scissors). Melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Add pasta, chicken and bacon and toss together. Serve immediately and ENJOY!

Today Eliza and Libby started a mini-musical workshop. A girl who just graduated from college puts it on every year and teaches a small group of girls some songs with dance and they put on a show at the end of the 2 weeks. I can't wait to see it!

It's Midnight...

and I don't even have my PJs on yet! I've been going non-stop since we got our girls to bed.

Girls camp is next week, so I've been busy trying to get everything ready. Today my mom came over to help me make headbands for the girls in my cabin. Hattie was our model for the picture! I think they turned out so cute.



I think I need to make some and sell on e-bay...along with my burp cloths. Think there'd be a market for that? I've also made a couple of other things to give the girls...I'll have to take a picture tomorrow. I am nearly done getting everything ready.

Other than getting camp stuff done, I am pretty well done with the next Autumn Leaves book that I've been working on. It's called Enjoy the Process--a book being led by Rhonna Farrer. I am also caught up on Heidi's class I am editing. It feels good to be caught up. I know as soon as I say it, things will get busy, but it feels good right now!

Saturday was our 7th anniversary! We enjoyed the day watching the dry wall guys texture our walls. We also got to go out. We got some dinner at Chevy's (we love their salsa), then we tried to see Harry Potter, but it wasn't playing at the AMC we went to. Weird. So we looked at some books about Scotland at Barnes and Noble. Then we got some ice cream at 31 flavors.

The home remodel is coming along. Today he painted the floor boards and primed the walls. Tomorrow is paint and tile.


Eliza went with Brian to work today. He said they didn't get much done but they had a fun time. She helped Aleeda do some things, but mostly they played, went to lunch, etc. Eliza really enjoyed herself though!

I'd better go get my PJs on and go to bed!

Layer of Dust

(I didn't have time to turn a couple of the pictures, so you'll have to tilt your head!)
I feel like we are living under a thin layer of dust as we get our den enclosed. Day one of construction started yesterday. He framed it in and started demoing part of it to make the new entrance. Today he made the door entrance a little bigger to make room for the new door that will be a couple inches wider than the one that was there. I was a little nervous about how it all was going to play out and look, but I am happy with how it looks so far. It seems pretty natural looking to me and flows nicely. Tomorrow the drywall will be done, then it's tile, trim, paint, etc.

Today I took Eliza and Libby to Water World. I got a babysitter for Ellie and Hattie this time and just took the older two. We had a great time. They spent a lot of time in the kid area, and we also went on a couple of big slides. They both loved it! We also splashed in the wave pool and went in the lazy river. I think I spent too much time in the sun and didn't drink enough water, because when I got home I got a migraine. Ugh! So Brian came home a couple hours early and let me try to get rid of that. It's mostly gone now--my head is just a little tender.

OK--gotta go finish a book so I can focus all next week on getting ready for girls camp and getting ready for our trip to Scotland. When we get back from that, we'll be getting Eliza all ready for kindergarten.

Oh yeah...on Wednesday for mutual we went to the lake for a boating activity. I hadn't been to the lake since I was in mutual. It was a lot of fun. I did some tubing and I am still SO sore. This morning when my alarm went off, it was the song "Everybody Hurts." It couldn't have been any more perfect for me!

4.5

Can you believe I am already almost 4 and 1/2 months old? The time has gone fast--or at least that is what I hear my mom saying. She also says that I am a pretty good baby. She only started saying that once I got some good sleeping patterns down. I usually wake up around 6:30 or 7:30 and eat, then I get to sit in my bouncy chair and watch Baby Einsteins while whoever feeds me goes back to sleep for a little bit. Once every couple of weeks, I like to wake up at 3:30 and see who gets up to feed me. I usually hear a little muttering and then talking back and forth, then I see my dad ready to feed me. I get to see my mom sometimes, too, when I wake up that early. I can tell she isn't thrilled that I am up, so I don't try that trick too often.

I really love my sisters. I am glad my mom watches Ellie closely when she is around me. She is nice and likes to try to put my pacifier in or clean my face with me burp cloth. Sometimes she can be a little rough, but I don't think she means to. Libby loves to spend time with me. She holds my hand all the time. She also loves to sing with me or just sit by me. Eliza feeds me sometimes, but usually she is too busy coloring or setting the table all cute. She is good at that.





OK--this is long enough for me. I am getting tired. Good bye.

Friday-Sunday

Friday:
We spent part of the day cleaning--I like going into the weekend with a clean house. That night Brian and I went on our date. We checked Old Navy and got some school clothes for Eliza, then we had to get a couple items at Costco. Dinner was at Elephant Bar, then we walked around at Cibola Vista just to relax a little and so I could get some good spots to do some photo shoots there.

Saturday:
We did some things around the house. Eliza and I went to Kohls. They had a ton of clearance...I picked up some shirts for my girls for like $2.50. I got some capris for $6.50. Fun! Then we went to Wal-Mart for some groceries and for stuff for girls camp.

That afternoon we all went over to the resort to swim. They were having hotdogs, chips and lemonade, so we picked up an early dinner. We had a lot of fun there.

Sunday:
Today started early for me at my meeting before church. Brian is so good about getting all our girls ready and bringing them to church. He is amazing. Church went well. We didn't have to go out with anyone, so that is always a good day! I taught in young womens. The lesson was about sustaining missionaries through letters. I thought that was perfect for me to give since I did that for two years (or so I hope!) while Brian was in Venezuela.

This afternoon we went to my parents' house for dinner. Actually though, we had breakfast for dinner. That is always a fun change. The kids had a great time playing and got along great. Ellie has just been so cute lately. ...Saying thank you after everything or "yah" when she wants to do something. She is just a joy--as are the other three. Hattie was laughing this afternoon when my sister-in-law was holding her. ...that cute baby belly laugh. I love it. Of course, when I brought out the camera, she stopped! Libby is such a sweetcake. She can be stubborn, but if you just give her some time, she'll conform and share a toy or whatever it might be. She has a funny sense of humor, too, that we get a kick out of. Eliza is so caring and sensitive. She definitely has her difficult times and does things that make me want to pull my hair out, but Brian and I spent all of dinner talking about her and ideas of what we can do. The past two days have been a big improvement. She is also so creative and loves to do art. She is also surprising me with her desire to read and how well she is doing sounding out words.

Eliza did say a funny tonight. Her lesson in church was about missionary work and she had put her scriptures in her little purse and her teacher had given her a little sticker that looked like a missionary tag. She put that on the outside of her purse. Well, tonight she said, "Can we go to Jesus.com?" I was thinking--is that even a website, how did she hear about it, etc.... I said, "What's that? What is on that?" She said, "I just want to learn more about Jesus." Ha! I guess she thinks/knows you can get information off the Internet so I guess Jesus.com would have info about Him. It was a good laugh. I guess you had to be there.

Happy week!

Happy 4th!

Yesterday morning started with us going to our Bishop's house for the annual 4th of July breakfast. The girls looked cute in their little 4th of July Disney shirts I picked up last year. The highlight of the morning (for Eliza at least) was riding on a fire truck. Someone in our ward had one there to entertain the kids. I took Ellie on it, too, and she wasn't so sure about it. She didn't cry, but she was glad to get off. Brian and I decided that we'd take advantage of him being home so I could get some work done on the book I'm doing. (They decided to have it printed in China, so they moved all the deadlines up.) So to allow me to get something done, Brian took Eliza, Libby and Ellie on a little outing. They went the back way up to Prescott and had a little picnic lunch under a big oak tree and had some ice cream from one of the little stores right there on main street.

While they were gone I actually got a lot done! I had to take a little break to take a birthday gift to one of my young women and to go to Target. I got the ingredients to make these to take to Brian's parents' tonight.

For our 4th festivities, we went to Brian's parents' house and had pizza. Then we swam. We even got Hattie in. She seemed to really like it. Ellie love it too. She is just so crazy in the water. It's so funny to watch her. After swimming, we had some sweets and watched the fireworks in their backyard. They have a good view of the ones at Peoria Sports Complex. Ellie watched for a little bit and wasn't to sure about them. I even got Libby out there for a little bit, too. Miraculous! It was a great show with a great finale. When everyone was in bed, we watched "A Capitol Fourth" on channel eight.

Rewind to this past week...let's see...on Tuesday I went on a photo shoot with Natalie again. I love watching her in action and learning more and more. Gosh. I am really bad or just really tired because I can't remember anything excited we've been up to. ...a little swimming here and there. Pedicures. Eliza gave me a "pedicure" on Monday. She even drew painted a flower on my toe. After that, Eliza and Libby had fun painting on some paper plates with acrylic paint. Eliza came up with some fun designs. She is so creative and imaginative.

This morning was art class--we got a late start but we made it to their class--only a few minutes late. Hattie had her 4 month well-check this morning, too. It was a bit crazy taking them all. Ellie was a handful! She kept trying to escape from the room and was just a little rambunctious. But Hattie is doing great. She is 25" and 14.5 lbs. She is filling out and growing so fast!

Now here are some fun pictures from the past week or so:


Poor Ellie...she is our rough and tumble girl. Here is her lip wound from Water World. She is all healed now.


Vacuum #35. Ha! We will try yet another one. After this we are going to an Oreck! I like this one so far though. (That's what I said about the last one!)


Poor Hattie. Libby was playing with her.


Ellie sleeping on their adventure to Prescott.