Great quote

I read this excellent adoption quote:

"There is something called prayer trading and we're going to trade prayers with somebody."

Feel free to pray!

Adoption sites

Some of you have said you can't find our adoption sites, so here they are! We would LOVE a new baby!!

http://www.parentprofiles.com/profiles/db21760.html



https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/12191815/ourMessage.jsf


Feel FREE to pass on our info!!

Ash update

As a new 3-year-old, Ashley had her well-child doctor visit on Friday. She was GREAT! She is 39" high (95%) and 31.6 lbs (75%). The doctor was impressed with her progress. She got two shots, which she bravely took and only cried for a minute. Yah Ashley!

Some other stuff and pictures!

Josh had lots of pictures on his phone and I finally got them off! So here are some older pics:

Ellie in the garden this summer:

Here are the girls enjoying the Cache County Fair rides: (like in August)
Ashley had a BLAST at the aquarium recently- where you can touch the (de-stinged) stingrays -she LOVED it.

Ellie posed in the fakie-canoe:

Here is David and Ellie playing with her new doll house - (she LOVES it Dave!)
Random pics of the girls making faces:



This morning (Sunday) Ashley did NOT want the perfectly yummy C.heerios I poured for her and insisted on these:

And she ate them!

And then for lunch, Ellie wanted some meat on her peanut butter sandwich -so Josh made her one with turkey-and she ate like 1/2 of it!

Shooting

As you may remember, I made us some 'date goals' this summer - and we have done both of them! (driving at the golf range and now....)

Shooting guns!

Josh's boss is BIG into guns, so he hooked everything up. We went out to some gravel pit and Bill (the boss) and his wife had everything all set up for us (we were in charge of ear-plugs - VERY helpful).

According to Josh, we shot.... 9mm, semi-auto, .45 semi-auto; .38 revolvers, .38 snub nose and some .22 semi-autos (this list is for you gun people who know stuff). I liked the little one, the .22 the best. The other ones had BIG kicks!

(Check out how great my chin looks!)

We all shot at various stuff and pumpkins and had a blast! (ha!) I got ALL THREE of those holes in a row!

Josh was a GREAT shot!

In fact - he was so good, he did THIS! ( maybe instead of carving this year???)

Teeths news!

Wait! I forgot the most exciting news!!! The orthodontist and oral surgeon said everything looks excellent....and I should have my braces off by Feb. 1 !!!!!!!!!

YAH!!!!!

Post stupid-ness

Man - everyone around me is writing insightful, politically astute blogs about stuff of importance. Well Ashley and Gutterbutt are important to us! I am going to blame it on the still-slight-case-of-flu I seem to have. Every afternoon I get hot/cold and cranky. And my stomach feels like exploding in the mornings. Other than that we are great!

We continue to do a little preschool at home. It came to me, just recently, that LOTS of things were more important than 'academics' so now we just play with our more 'complicated/parent-needed' toys, sing a song, have a nursery lesson, etc. Today we played stickers. We also had quiet time, had snacks while playing at the park and made cookies for daddy. Everyone went to bed early!

Ashley continues to talk up a storm. But all these new words are sometimes confusing. This afternoon we were outside and she seemed quite concerned about something (over the neighbor's fence) being broken. I thought it was an old tree with broken limbs. Then she went inside and got on her pink tutu so she could go fly up and 'fix' it. It turned out she was concerned the moon was broken (it was a crescent moon). I tried to explain the moon was fine. CUTE!

We got Ashley a little tea set for her birthday and Ellie just LOVES it. (It is good that Ash has something the Ellie likes, because now Ellie has to ask to borrow it). Like 5 times a day I come down and find her having tea (by herself or with "Emily" her friend). We did have a hot cocoa party the other day (after the ribbon walk - see below) and it was VERY fun.

Ribbons - I REALLY wish I had gotten a picture of this. One of the 'educational' toys I got for the girls was long ribbons on a stick, like we used at our little dance class. We just got them out the other day. A HUGE HIT. Ash and Ellie twirled, wiggled and danced around in the driveway for like 30 minutes - and then we went on a walk with our ribbons.

Later we invited our neighbors over for ribbons (3 girls) and EVERYONE ribboned (hello, yes, I got 5 just for instances like this) to GRAND acclaim and the playdate ended with a ribbon-dancing party for their mom on their lawn.

It seems our whole town has swine flu. We are not too concerned about it and don't plan on freaking out/camping out for 400 days for a vaccine. We just try to wash our hands more when we come in from being out. Besides, if you get it once - aren't you technically immune to it????

Happy birthday Ashley!!!

Welcome to being a big 3!!!
Yes, on Sunday Ashley officially turned 3 years old. Yaah Gwynn for having a healthy, wonderful baby. It probaby was not fun (all that labor stuff). Ashley is a wonderful, smart, funny and talented little girl. We love her!!

Here are some pictures from the party we had on Saturday (fortunately before we all got sick).
A cute story. Ashley got this pink dress from Grandma B. Today we got it out of the suitcase and put it on and Ash started yelled "Pretty dress!" All day she would remind us she had a "Pretty DRESS" on. And she is pretty darn cute in it.

In case you can't tell, the cake is a kitty-cat. She had decided on this before the trip and I packed the book with the picture/instructions, a cake mix, etc. But when it came time to make the cake 1) we had only a 9x13 pan 2) the book was missing ( later found). So we had to fake it. But it doesn't look to bad!

Ashley got a dress and tights from Grandma, an AWESOME back pack and book from Uncle David, candy from Uncle John, unlying love/attention and giggles from the Aunties and a tea set and Leap Frog from mommy and daddy. The L.eap Frog has been VERY popular (guess who played with their games for like 3 hours on the way home? Ellie already had one so how they match!)

End of a lot of things

Well, it was a great Gutterbutt/Thanksmas - until the illnesses began. And here is the ONLY picture I have of the 4 day event.

Apparently this is Holly, laying on the grass with her birthday hat on, after Ashley's birthday party. She is recovering from eating too much cake (and other assorted stuff).

Everyone is recovering. Sara and John enjoyed Vegas for another day and got a score deal on their hotel room. David made it back (after being smooshed in his airline seat) to work and lived. Mom had a few tummy issues, but has recovered. Josh and I have recovered from our assorted yuck-nesses. Ash and Ellie are doing fine, running around and playing with all their toys.

We drove to Provo today and got our other car - which about 10 miles from Tooele yesterday, we remembered Josh had driven to Provo to meet Jason. Oh well. There was a lovely family dinner at Heather's.

And a mother-moment for me! Heather had her friend over, with her 7 day old baby boy. He had bad jaundice. And I got to talk like a 'real' mommy about the bad jaundice Ellie had. It is not that I don't feel like her mommy, but usually early baby-hood stories usually involve childbirth stories and I have no experience with that, so I can't really comment. But I had comments and EXPERIENCE with jaundice. A funny story here - the friend bought her daughter a new dolly when the new baby arrived. But he had this horrible jaundice issue and now her daughter goes around calling her new dolly "Jaundice."

Throwing up update

Well that's just what it is.

Today: Holly, Sara, and Ashley lost it. Poor Ash was sleeping away in her bed and woke up with a cough and a spew. (If this is too graphic for you currently un-childed out there - the day is coming for you). Holly has been laying on the floor moaning. FABULOUS sister Sara has been doing wash and holding buckets. You ROCK Sara!!

I am a bit tummy-grumply, but ok for now. Updates later!

Poor Ellie

Maybe it was the buffet (pronounced buff-et) or the crazy schedule, or the 4,354,654 million things to see/experience here in Vegas, but poor Ellie threw up TWO more times late last night. Which made us ALL exceedingly glad we were at a house with a washer/dryer! Poor little monkey. She was feeling much better today. For the record Ellie has only thrown up ONCE before in her whole life. So it was probably traumatic.

Ashley did sleep 12+ hours yesterday - I think all the walking, lights, people, stuff to see, etc wears her out. She is just talking up a storm.

Uncle David took the girls to the toy store tonight - so tomorrow morning,when we bring in the toys, will be a holiday to rival Christmas! Ash got a little backpack (so she doens't have to share with Ellie anymore) and tons of fun stuff. Ellie got her first chemistry set - courtesy of Uncle David. We are excited to see the results!

Viva Las Vegas!

We are in Vegas for a Bluemlein reunion this week and it is AWESOME! (minus Ellie throwing up this evening after the 2 hours at the 4,532 dish buffet). We rented a house with a pool (not heated) and a hot tub (FABULOUS!).

So far we have had several good adventures, including trying to get David' rental car, getting mom and eating ourselves to death at the buffet. (We used to have a family 'rule' that you 'had' to eat one plate for every dollar the buffet cost (totally possible for my brothers). If you can count each dessert plate as a seperate plate, I think we did pretty good!

Ashley ate her heart out (and then promptly fell asleep in the car on the way home) and drank about 2 quarts of chocolate milk. Ellie had three bowls of chocolate ice cream, and two entire watermelons, 4 pieces of pizza and other assorted treats. Good times there.

It is SO fun to hang out with the siblings and mom (dad is ill and not able to travel this year to Gutterbutt/Thanksmas). Tomorrow we are going to go to the Circus Circus playland/ride headquarters. I think it will be fun. A few of us are going to brave the ride and try all the roller coasters - FUN!!

I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

Our girls are so cute!

I made these little hamburger/bread dough pockets for dinner and the girls wanted to help me with the dough. Here they are helping out in the kitchen - in their cute little aprons.






It was nice to be home this weekend. I played the organ in church on Sunday. Naps were had.

Both our adoption profiles are up and we have had more than 2,290 hits on our parent profile site! Wow! On the itsaboutlove site - out of 916 couples, more than 65+ had doctorates (one or the other, etc) (of course, Josh says, why do people graduate? Kids! No kids = stay in school).

(Yes, hello, of course I was out scoping out the other couples/competition!)

This morning we got up and went to get shoes for the girls. And I got boots! (for FIFTY percent OFF!) and Josh got a new coat - pictures to follow. Sometimes it is nice to leave the so-few-choice-Tooele and venture out.


On Wednesday (around 5 a.m.) we will be leaving for Las Vegas and the 2009 Gutterbutt/Thanksmas. We found this COOL house with 5 bedrooms, a pool, kitchen, etc. for what ONE hotel room would cost a night! We will be driving down to pick up some siblings and have tons of FUN! Bring on the tacos and chocolate pudding!!

Awesome movie!

I am doing more adoption portfolio stuff tonight and decided to get my n.etflix money's worth - so I watched this recommended film "Arranged" - it was AWESOME!! Totally like rated G and SO cute about a Jewish girl and a Muslim girl who are teaching school together and become friends when they realize they both expect arranged marriages. So great - watch it!

We will be 'up' on the http://www.parentprofiles.com/ site tomorrow (hopefully) - we are ID# 21760. Look us up -we'd love comments!

Also, I am not dead yet. On Tuesday I got an allergy shot (one in each arm, just like normal) but that night I had a HUGE reaction - swelling, hot lumps on both arms. I took a lot of drugs. In the morning it was WORSE! Bigger than my whole hand up and down both arms. Went back to office. MA (medical assistant) "Hum, and what are your symptoms?" Wrote them down. Go to PA (physician's assistant). "Hum, that doens't look good. I don't think we need to start you on antiobiotics just yet." Medical doctor comes over for a look "I don't think she has cellulitious yet" (I don't think I EVER want that). So I am alive and taking LOTS of allergy drugs to calm down the reaction. No more allergy shots for 2+ weeks!

(yes I am in my footie pj's -hello Josh is working nights and the girls and I wanted to match!) The swelling was WAY worse in the morning.

If you have known me for a while, you will remember a phase I went though about five years ago when I was determined to make good bread. Now I could technically MAKE bread, but it didn't always turn out...big - you know like taller than the bread pan itself. I swear, I went through like 200 pounds of flour during that time. I achieved moderate success. But then this week I made 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat bread and check it out...

I think this is the TALLEST bread I have EVER made! Bring on the cold weather!!!

And some conference pics that didn't get posted:

Auntie Heather did Ellie's hair in like 7 little ponytails - CUTE!

Auntie Holly racked up points toward "Favorite Auntie"

We all sat around and ate way too much:

I am dressed like a little old Portugese woman. (black outfit for mourning, and authentic Portuguese apron). About 90% of all women on my mission did, at least occassionally, look like this

Sharing

Yes, in our household we encourage sharing.

However, when it comes to germs, we should stop sharing (it might have something to do with the fact that due to labeling issues, I think the whole family used one toothbrush during the trip). Josh has shared his cold with me. My head hurts! My nose is stuffy! I am hot! I am achy! (I have to complain here, because at home, no one else gives good sympathy).

The great news is that the girls still look healthy. It is nice to be home again and our beds are SO comfy! I am working hard to get our adoption websites all updated and cute. It really is a ton of work. I am just trying to think of it as my labor work (you don't necessarily want to do it, but it has to be done).

I am off to take a nap. I will try re-inviting those of you who didn't get latched on the first time. Yah naps!!

Pictures you wanted to see

OK, so we picked up Auntie Holly and headed East:
Ashley met Grandpa Ken. They both liked looking at the fish and birds. And eating ice cream together.

Josh brought his new mini-helicopter to show dad and it was a big hit.

Grandpa and his girls

Ashley LOVES being ticked, and grandpa obliged:

Ashley also met Great-grandma B. (She likes to be known as "G")
G also has this cupboard that I am sure my family will remember from our youths - the CANDY cupboard!! Ellie and Ashley quite enjoyed it. (Here is Holly sorting through candy).

Then we went to Pittsburg. It is 1,666 miles from Tooele. And totally worth the trip. Ellie and Jules:
We went to dinner with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Chuck: (and Ellie entertained everyone). Ash was a bit more shy with all her new relations - but she and Grandpa Chuck did go and check on the cat several times together. Everyone had a great time. Then we got to spent the night with Grandpa Don. He had TWO cats! (VERY popular):


The next day we went to lunch (with the camera, hence more pictures):

We then drove back to Saginaw. There is this HUGE Christmas store there, and we went looking for a new tree topper. The girls loved it so much, that they both fell asleep on the way back.

We also got to go for a canoe ride together on some land my auntie and uncle bought.
While we were hanging out with Grandma Char, Holly taught the girls to dance, dance - GREAT!

Grandma LOVED having the girls and had tons of fun stuff for them to play with - they miss you Grandma!