4th of July

For the 4th of  July this year we woke up early (for summer anyway) at 8:30 and went to the Murray City parade like we always do. It was an awesome parade this year, but we missed the first part, also, toward the end was the group of zombies again. They were not as scary this year, or maybe we're just braver this year. The best part, according to Gwen was the cute zombie Boy her age that handed her a couple extra pieces of candy. Ahhh, young love.

After the parade, we went home and napped and ate lunch. Then we went to Lagoon. We were afraid it would be very busy, but it was nearly empty. We walked on any ride we wanted without waiting in line. It was so fun. Plus we saw the show we love twice. Gwen went on the double loop roller coaster, the Colossus, for her first time. She is braver than her daddy. Gwen has recently found out that she rather enjoys upside down rides and loves to drag her scary-cat daddy on them to make him cry. She's just like her mommy who also loves doing that to Jonathan.

Paisley loves minions.

Sword fighting at the park.

Our cat is very patriotic.

Then we grabbed dinner at In-n-out and went to the Layton City Park for their firework show. We met all the cousins there and had fun playing games and talking. We got home super late around midnight and we all loved it.

Emily showing off her candy loot.

Gwen is less excited.

Taylorsville Dayzz

We went to Taylorsville city's annual festival with the annoying name of Taylorsville Dayzz this last weekend. It was too hot to go earlier in the day. The temperature has been over 100 degrees the last few days. We ventured out after dinner, but so did everyone else. We did the pony rides and petting zoo. Jonathan went on the Gravitron. I waited in line for over 20 minutes for soft serve ice cream, then did it again when Jonathan wanted one as well. By then, the crowds were getting insane, it was almost ten o'clock, and we dreaded fighting the traffic home after the fireworks. Instead, we left prior to the fireworks and camped out nearby in front of my parents' home to watch them minus the crowds. A teenage couple in a truck, maybe kids of the neighbors, pulled up and parked near us. Emily climbed up in the back of their truck and sat right by them during the whole 20 minutes of fireworks. She sang them songs and probably spoiled their "romantic" evening. Way to go, Emily.

Summer is for swimming

We have always loved swimming in our family. It's something my girls have done since before they could walk. They love being in the water and this summer is no exception. The best thing about living in our townhouse is the swimming pool. It's big, heated, well maintained and usually fairly empty of people. This summer, we've already had a friend party for Gwen there and a family party. Plus, we've been by ourselves at least three or four times a week. Gwen has been swimming independently since last year. She's as good, if not better, than me. Emily has started not using any floatation devices this year.  She is good where she can touch and can swim to the side of the pool if she jumps in where she can't reach. Gwen has been watching a lot of synchronized swimming on the computer and has been practicing back flips, handstands, and having me throw her. She's so fun to swim with.  A week ago, she punctured her eardrum with a q-tip though, and has to wear silicone ear plugs to keep the water out. They work well, so she's excited to get more swimming in this year. I'm glad they work because I cannot imagine a summer without swimming.

So, Let's try this again.

I got an iPad. Yup, I don't own a smart phone, but when my beloved Kindle Fire stopped charging, I decided to splurge and get the iPad. It's been nice to have. It should be great to get back and do some blogging which will be easier now that I can upload directly from the iPad without having to wait to use the laptop and find the cords for the camera.

 So, it's 2013. Things that are new: we adopted a kitten last September. Her name is Zelda and the kids love her.

We love having her in our family. She's fairly tolerant of the kids and the dog. She loves to play and sneaks outside every chance she gets. Sometimes we put a leash on her and drag her around outside to let her explore.

Pictures!

I got a new laptop for Jonathan a few weeks ago and got to use it today for the first time to upload pictures. We've been using a little notebook computer for a couple years and it's nice to have a full screen again to blog with. We got the laptop for when I travel to China in a couple months with my sister and her family to bring home my niece. With the laptop, I'll be able to skype with my family from half-way across the planet. I love that we will be able to do that. Well, as promised: PICTURES:

Emily and Gwen love to make silly faces.  They also love to get their sticky little fingers on my camera lens.  I don't always notice until after taking the pictures.  That's why some look hazy. 

Daddy taught Gwen how to play more advanced games on the Wii like Epic Mickey.  Much to my dismay, she's actually fairly good at it.

Gwen taking her own picture.  Getting ready for Facebook?

I made mummy dogs for Halloween this year. They were fun to eat.

We went to the Discovery Gateway Museum for their Halloween party.  Emily and Gwen were excited to meet Glenda the Good Witch since they went as Dorothy and The Wicked Witch.  They had been watching the Wizard of Oz and loved to get dressed in their costumes and act out the movie as they watched it.  When we went to the Gateway mall, there was an international conference for NuSkin. We kept getting stopped by hordes of Japanese people who wanted to take the girls pictures.  Gwen and Emily loved the attention and really hammed it up for everyone.  There were seriously hundreds of people there taking their photos.  I'm sure my girls are famous in Japan now.

Gwen took this picture of Emily being the grumpy Wicked Witch.

It was such nice weather for Halloween this year.  Last year it poured buckets and the candy was all soggy.  This year I had to work the evening shift but we were all done trunk-or-treating by 6:00 so I had time to run off to work.

We got a big new full-size tree for Christmas this year.  This is the day we decorated it and the only day all season that it was fully decorated.  The kids constantly took off and rearranged all the decorations on the tree.  Emily discovered that she could rub the snowflakes and the glitter would come off and she'd run around the house yelling "faith, trust, and PIXIE DUST" and throwing the glitter.

We met Santa a couple times this year.  Gwen would always panic because she couldn't remember what we told her she wanted for Christmas.  She wanted a Leapster Explorer and a Rapunzel game.  At least that's what Santa was going to bring her whether or not she wanted it.  Turns out that she loved it.  Emily asked for toys.

See her looking at us because she can't remember what to say to Santa.

Our Primary did a Nativity program for our ward party this year.  Gwen got to be an angel - along with all the other girls in the ward that didn't get to be Mary.  She did a great job singing.

Christmas was on a Sunday this year.  We all dressed up in our Sunday/Christmas best for church.

Gwen and Daddy made fig treats that Jonathan remembers making with his mother at Christmas time.

Back to Blogging?

So, I spent a while tonight looking over my past blog enteries and really enjoyed it. I get discouraged when I read other people's blogs and they have really funny and interesting things to say, and I just ramble on about my girls. I decided that I don't care though because this blog is really for me, not other people to read and be impressed with.

So, updates since October:
We had Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. I worked a lot. I did get a sort-of different job at my work. I'm in the float pool. That means that I write down the days I want to work and the hospital calls me and tells me which department in either Pioneer Valley or Jordan Valley Hospital to go to. It also included a fairy nice raise and more steady hours. That means that I don't have to work as many days. I don't HAVE to, but I still work four 12-hour nights a week because the extra money is extra nice.

Jonathan is getting better at being a house-husband-macho. He does all the shopping and cooking. He loves to try new recipes and I doubt we've had the same dinner twice in 3 or 4 months. He gets Gwen to and from school and keeps Emily from destroying the house or herself too much.

Gwen is loving kindergarten. She especially loves her best friend there: a cute boy with glasses named Braxton. She has a hard time telling me what they learned about but she never fails to mention if Braxton got a new haircut or didn't play with her a recess. She's also been participating in an acting class called "Up With Kids". They're going to be putting on a play of Disney's Tangled movie. Gwen gets to be a chameleon named Rainbow. It's really been fun to watch her dance, act, and sing. She looks forward to it all week.

Emily broke her right wrist in December. She was playing at the gym and fell out of there climbing area and landed on her out-stretched hand. That's 3 broken bones in less than 12 months. That's it. No more broken bones, Emily. She is so accident prone I'm sure there will be more doctor's visits in the future. Emily still refuses to potty train. She is adamant about being my baby and wearing diapers forever. She turns 3 next week and we've been telling her for weeks that 3-year-olds go potty in the toilet. I need to find the right bribe for her. She doesn't give in for anything we've tried yet.

I have a bunch of pictures from Halloween and Christmas on my camera I need to upload.

Done with shopping

Bring on Christmas 'cause I'm officially done with all my shopping. We're even ready for Emily's birthday in February. Boo-yah!