Sarah

Rather than try to catch up on all the events that have taken place lately, I thought I would instead devote a blog entry on each member of our little family. First up is my Sarah. There are so many things that I love about my girl. I love the way that she doesn't just call us Mommy and Daddy, it's My Mommy and My Daddy. After waiting so long to hear a child call us that, it is even more sweet that she adds that special "my" to the title. She has been such a precious gift to us. She is amazingly smart and she is so funny. A few weeks ago she was in the bathroom and I hear her say, "Um, we have a bit of a poopy situation." Words you love to hear from your three year old. We were driving in the car the other day and she said, "Mommy, look to your right." She wanted to show me something and sure enough it was on my right. She decided that this little area in our yard should become Pixie Hollow from Tinkerbell. She and her dad have been busy getting that spot ready to be transformed into her fairy wonderland. After working on it one night, she and her dad were roasting marshmallows. She turned to Sam after finishing hers and said, "That marshmallow was pretty da** good!" She has used that word a couple of times now and we honestly don't know where she heard it. I swear she didn't hear it from us. We've asked her and she said she made it up. She is also not convinced that it is a bad word. I guess we'll keep working on that one. She has recently started taking dance lessons. She has wanted to be a ballerina for awhile now. It was one of the biggest incentives to getting her potty trained finally. There are few things cuter than a three year old running around in a pink leotard and thinking that they now know how to dance. She dances all over the house and sometimes she'll say, "That's a little tricky. I guess I need more practice." I hope that throughout her life she will be able to pick herself up when she falls and just say "I guess I need more practice." She also started preschool this last month. The first day I dropped her off, she wanted me to stay. I told her I couldn't stay, that it was just for kids to have fun. She was crying "Mommy!" as I left and holding her arms out to me. I cried all the way home, longer than she cried at school I'm sure. This business of being a parent is so bitter sweet. These are all the moments that we have longed for and make all of the rest worth it. I love you My Sarah.

Sarah insisted one morning that we go out and find Pixie Hollow.

Sarah fell asleep in the hammock.

The first day of Preschool.

Wading in the Great Salt Lake.

Sarah is such a daddy's girl.

My little ballerina.

Oregon Trail

We just returned from our yearly trip out to Cottage Grove, Oregon to visit Sam's grandmother. We went out with Sam's parents. We spent a week out there picking blackberries, visiting family and flying kites at the coast. It was fun to introduce Lily to Grandma Spady. Lily even favored Grandma by taking her first steps while we were out there. Sarah got spoiled by Grandma as usual. Grandma stocks up on crayons, fun little notepads, stickers and all kinds of little toys. Sarah spent most of her time playing with a little bottle of bubbles in the shape of a bunny. She took it everywhere we went. Driving in the car, we would suddenly have bubbles floating in front of our faces. The girls traveled pretty well, but by the last day driving home they were more than ready to be out of the car. Vacations are fun, but it's good to be home.

Here are just a few pictures of over a thousand that we took while we were out there. That's right, over a thousand pictures. So, I realize that this post is heavy on pictures, but it could be worse.

Lily adored Grandma Spady.

Sarah and Lily exploring Grandma Spady's backyard.

We found this great little park with a river running next to it. Everyone had a lot of fun playing in the water and skipping rocks.

Grandpa Hacking was a great sport and kept Lily occupied. She loved playing with sticks and chewing on river rocks. Thats one way to cut teeth.

Thank goodness grandpa had a strong grip.

On the way home from the park, we stopped and picked blackberries. Lily tried them for the first time and it was all I could do to keep up with her.

The next day we went out to the coast. Lily loved the feel of the sand. She also wouldn't stop putting it in her mouth. Between her new found love of blackberries and her penchant for eating sand, we changed some great diapers in the following days.

Grandma Spady gives us seashells to "plant" on the beach for Sarah to find. She's going to think that finding shells is always that easy.

Grandma and Grandpa going for a walk on the beach.

We went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston the next day. It is a drive through wild animal park. We saw all kinds of animals wandering around different enclosures. It was a lot of fun. Animals were crossing the road in front of and behind our car.

We watched this brown bear swim around for awhile.

Lily and Dad and Grandma Hacking were outside in the backyard enjoying some wonderful Oregon rain.

We say goodbye to Grandma Spady for another year.