The Inchworm

Here's a video of Nora's unique inchworm crawl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FasmOUjFI14
And if you want to review Corinne's unique crawl at the same age, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH4du5J8WGU

House updates

These are all the pictures I got while Jeremy was at the house working on it. I'm not upset because it means he was busy working on the house instead of taking pictures. This is the kitchen before the tile was put in.

This is the new sink and faucets and soap dispenser. We have a reverse osmosis faucet along with an instant hot water faucet.

The new tile in the master bath and carpet in the 2 walk-in closets.

The fridge and freezer moved into the dining room while the tile was installed.

New tile in the dining room and new carpet in the living room and stairs.

New tile in the entry way and new carpet on the stairs. Now you've seen what I've seen!

Grandpa Strong

I received a phone call from my dad this morning telling me that his father had passed away suddenly last night. On August 8th, my grandparents had their first formal family reunion where all of their immediate family of 10 kids were able to attend along with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Sadly, I was not able to go. My grandma said that the night before this celebration my grandpa could hardly sleep because he was so excited. It seems as though the reunion was inspired to be when it was to allow so many family members the opportunity to see him one last time.

My grandpa was a very special person and I will always have fond memories of him. I remember annual vacations to visit my grandparents in Alpine, UT and enjoying a variety of fruits and vegetables grown with love by my grandpa. I remember family barbecues with homemade root beer and aunts, uncles, and cousins sitting under the big tree talking and laughing while the sun set. I remember my grandpa making up songs on the piano--variations on hymns, and other tunes he made up for us to dance to. I remember him telling us the scary story of the vacugna that came out when the moon was full. (I still am not sure exactly what a vacugna is.) I remember his silly giggle when he would succeed in making us jump when he scared us from behind a door or corner. I remember him always telling us how much he loved his wife, how lucky he was to have her, and how his love had only increased and became better with time. I remember him always telling us how much he loved the gospel and always stressed the importance of marriage in the temple lasting forever and how important it is to have family together forever. I remember the spirit I felt when he gave me my patriarchal blessing and how sweet and special it was when he was able to seal me to my husband for time and all eternity in the Mesa temple.

My grandpa leaves behind a legacy of love and faith and will be missed by many. I love you Grandpa!

Arrrgh!

Matthew turned 4 this week and we decided to celebrate (2 days later) with a pirate party. He's not particularly into pirates, but then again, he's not particularly into anything really. I just figured it would be fun to do a pirate party and so I proceeded to hype it up a few weeks in advance and get Matthew excited about pirates. If he didn't like pirates before, he does now. This is my attempt at a cool cake. I read about this idea on the internet and figured it was something feasible to do that didn't require too much effort. Just 2 9x13 cakes on top of each other with some plastic jewels and candy stuffed in between and strewn along the bottom. I used fruit-by-the-foot around the edges and on top with M&Ms for "studs." I was impressed by myself.

After the kids all arrived on scene, we told them that Captain Blackbeard had stolen our treasure and we needed some volunteer pirates to help us find it. They all dressed up in the pirate attire and then we went on a treasure hunt. (Thanks Melinda for the cute poem clues!) The clues led to the treasure chest at the top of the stairs with the pirate loot inside (the goody bags). The pizza man then arrived and we had dinner.

Throughout the course of the party and dinner, the pirate attire became strewn around the house. Matthew kept a few of the items on and tried to blow out the candles wth the patch over his mouth. He soon realized that nothing was happening and proceeded to blow them out.

Here's a look at the back of the cake in a non-blurry picture.

Here's the booty! He scored a few pirate presents and has had a blast playing with them since. Thanks everyone for the gifts!

It was cute to watch how excited the kids were to have Matthew open their presents. They were almost fighting to give the presents to Matthew. That's way better than fighting to have the presents after they're opened. Matthew had a great time and I hope the kids had fun. They seemed excited. Happy birthday, Matthew!