Utah Bliss

We are in Utah now, at least for the next two months. We have had so much fun. We have been in real homes, backyards with soft grass, nature, and surrounded by family and friends.Two months is a long time, there is so much that we want to do and people we want to see that it will go so fast. Here are photos from our first weekend here. 

That first day, Maggie probably spent more time outside than inside. We found some bikes in Grandma's shed and had fun trying to ride it. Poor Maggie. All her friends have bikes, but her legs are too short for her to really ride one. She tries so hard though.

Swings!!! It is the small things that bring so much joy, like swinging while waiting for dinner.

Cousins are the best. We had Laura's kids come over one afternoon while the canal was "turned on"? I don't quite understand how these irrigation ditches work except that a couple times a week, the back yard floods. It makes for great water fights.

Sam gets to play with a ton of new toys. This is definitely not helping with tummy time. Why struggle on your tummy when you can just sit up and play with all the toys? He is definitely related to Maggie-both had no desire to move.

Grandma Schwabadissen was in town when we were in Brigham City. You can't tell it from these photos, but both kids actually really liked her. Maggie would teach Grandma all about the different princesses. I love this lady so much and am glad that I can be a part of her family.

We are spending the first two weeks with Mike's sister, Allison. Talk about a girl's come true. They have multiple doll houses, dress up dresses, Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, Easy Reader Princess books, an amazing backyard, and the best cousins. Especially Tally. Tally is 9 years old and loves to play with Maggie and help take care of Sam. Joey and Emily have been so generous in letting us borrow their van for while we are here, since Mike will have the car to get to work.

Maggie loves temple. Allison loves just down the street from the Mt. Timpanogos temple. The kids enjoyed visiting it and learning more about them.

Fancy Maggie: Aspiring Artist

On this rainy Sunday afternoon, we played with markers. If you are going to draw pictures, why not have it be the characters from Frozen, Maggie's favorite movie. The above picture is her rendition of Olaf and Anna. Below were my drawings that encouraged her creativity.

Maggie: "Anna is wearing a dress. A green dress. Braids in hair.  Olaf has a carrot in his nose. Olaf stick in his arms."

These two cuties need to stop growing.

I keep telling these kiddos to stop growing, but they won't listen to me. Do you send your kid to time out for growing up? Just kidding. I love the stage that they are in, but are so excited to see them learn new skills and get bigger.

Sam's Update: turned 6 months today (yay to half birthday!), tried a sippy cup for the first time, sits up like a champ, enjoys sitting in the shopping cart instead of being in his car seat, went down to two naps (already?!?), loves tickly kisses and bugging his sister.

Maggie's Update: bought her first pair of pink cowboy boots and is in heaven, loves to lay down on the couch and read books to herself for 30 minutes at a time (I'm not complaining), starting to learn the alphabet (hoping that she can be an early reader for her sake, she would love to actually be able to read herself), wants to be a player now because they "play, play, play", begs to search for birds and chipmunks while jumping in puddles.

I wanted to check out some spots to take photos, so this is Maggie's attempt at modeling for me. I love her bubbly personality coming through the first one and how serious she is taking it in the second photo.

I wanted to make Maggie's Halloween costume early this year so it could be done before going to Utah. Drum roll please, it' Ariel! Go figure. This is Ariel's green dress that is in all the Princess books. I made it with elastic sleeves and a lace up back so she can wear it for the next couple of years.

BYU Football and Labor Day

This weekend was the opening game to BYU football. We watched the game at a friend's house, ate a lot, and stayed up way too late. I pulled out Maggie's old BYU shirt that I made and it looks great on him. Our friend made this "cougar" (I think it is suppose to be a bear) for Sam's baby gift and it has become the mascot for football season.

I just you can't expect smiles when it is 1 1/2 hours past bedtime. Plus Sam looks like a beast, which he is.

We went to the Watermelon Roundup in Plains, TX on Saturday. They had all-you-can-eat watermelon, carni food, musicians, cow train, and a car show. It wasn't much of a festival, but for West Texas, we had fun. Plus the watermelon was fabulous, don't-bother-me-with-a-camera good.