The Living Planet Aquarium

We decided to visit The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, Utah for a day trip. I think we had a lot of fun. It took us about an hour and a half until we were ready to go. I think you could probably spend 3 hours there, if you wanted to really watch the animals, and read about them. The 3 year old in our family kind of flitted around to different displays. If there wasn't something moving in it, it wasn't worth looking at. :)

One thing about their pricing. It was $8 for adults, $6 for 3-17. They did have coupons on their website that you can print out and bring in. I thought the neatest part was that the annual membership was only the price of 2 visits. So if you think you will visit it more than once or twice, it is definitely worth it to buy the membership ticket.

They currently have 3 main displays: Discover Utah Gallery, Journey to South America, and Ocean Explorer Gallery. They were advertising a South American Penguin Display coming soon, but I don't remember when.

I think this first picture is in front of some trout from Utah, but I'm not sure.


We actually weren't terribly impressed with the Utah fish. Maybe we have seen and eaten too many. :) But they did have a neat "boat" that you could sit in the driver's seat, and it would move as though on water, while taking you on a visual tour of about 12 different things. There were also native frogs, toads, and salamanders.

The salamanders immediately reminded me of being a child, and seeing them in our window wells. And of course, I thought about Michael. When he was little, I guess Mom had told him to wash his hands. Well, he didn't want the salamander to escape, so he just stuck it in his mouth sideways (like someone holding a knife in their mouth while climbing up a ladder) and washed his hands. I didn't see it, but it still makes me laugh.


They also have a "touch pool" where you can put your hands in the water, and touch the stingrays that are swimming around. There was one stingray that would swim almost vertically along the side so you could touch it. (not pictured here)


They had a Coral section that has lots of fake coral you could climb in. When we first asked Katie to get in one for a picture she looked at us as though we were crazy. Then she looked back at the dark hole her parents wanted her to crawl into. She wouldn't go in until I showed her it was like a tunnel and I waited for her at one end. This particular picture is just a small alcove, but she didn't seem to understand the concept of putting her face in the hole for a picture. That is why I'm right by her:


On one of the "coral" displays there was a crab. I told Katie to touch it and again she thought I was trying to kill her. I had to touch it and bend it's leg to show her it wasn't real. The coral was towards the end of our time there. I think she had seen so many things in real life that she had only pictured before. It must have seemed weird to see animals move in ways she had never imagined. No wonder she was wary of touching one that truthfully, looked pretty real. In fact, as I reached out to touch it to prove to Katie it was fake, I had the minuscule second of hesitation. What if it was real?


This display had a spotted stingray (among other things) that is in the bottom right corner. Elayna was reaching up as though to touch the fish as they swam by. I love how intrigued both the girls are:


Some other things that we didn't get pictures of: In the Ocean display: upside-down jellyfish, regular jellyfish, sea horses, crabs, sharks, eels, a weird fish that looked like coral-but walked instead of swam, and a sleeping octopus. (Katie didn't even remember seeing that one)

In the Journey to South America: fish that floated on the surface and had bulgy eyes like alligators, frogs, spiders, an electric eel that made "noise"-they had an audio representation of his electricity, turtles, and mini alligator things.

You can also feed the stingrays, but it cost $6 extra. We walked past the group as the leader was explaining how to feed them. You hold your hand out flat, and the stingray will swim over your hand, and suck it out of your palm. I'm not sure if that would be thrilling or scary. Probably both.

I have always loved the water, and I love going to aquariums. This was a fairly decent one, that I predict will become much better in the years to come.

What I've been up to...

Well, I'm the new primary pianist. Ryan was the previous pianist, but he was ready for something different. He hasn't gotten a calling yet, but he keeps busy watching Elayna and helping Katie with bathroom breaks. I really enjoy being the pianist. It is a great excuse to play the piano as many days as I can. The girls just play downstairs while I practice. Some of the songs are challenging, but thankfully, not too many. It is nice.

We got our front driveway fixed. I don't have pictures, but imagine a big hole beneath my driveway. Now imagine the cement in the driveway got broken in half because of the weight of the car. Also, the cement had dropped about 6 inches from it's original placement. The sidewalk had also broken. There was a 6 inch step where there shouldn't be, and the upper pad sounded hollow underneath. We were sure it was going to fall and break any day.

When we got the bid (last year) to get the driveway lifted (they pump cement into the hole under the cement, which causes it to rise to it's original spot), it was going to cost between $700 and $900, depending on how big the hole was. We knew the cost of cement had risen since then, but even with that, it only cost $562!

I know that we have had many blessings given to us by our Heavenly Father. Some are because we pay our tithing no matter what. We have been very blessed financially because of this. Ryan has a wonderful employer that appreciates the hard work he puts into his job. There was a large project that his department was working on, and because they completed it on time, they were given a substantial bonus. We used most of the bonus to pay towards our credit cards, but decided the driveway needed to be fixed.
We are constantly showered with blessings!

Amanda and I went to an Enrichment activity last Tuesday. Ryan was kind and generous enough to watch Katie, Elayna, Junior, and Abby. AND on a Tuesday, which is "his" night. He normally spends it with his cousin Derek in Provo, so Derek came to Santaquin that night. Well, as Amanda and I drove in, I noticed the front door was opening, and since the kids normally race to the door to see us, I figured it was them. I yelled "Boo!" as the door opened, only to see Derek kind of avoiding my eyes and going outside. Awkward!

My aunt Lynette let me come pick some of her plums. I got about 7 gallons worth. I steamed the plums and got about 3 gallons juice, that I will then make into plum syrup.

There has been idle speculation on the fact that I like dining tables. Indeed, I just bought my 4th dining table in 4 years. This post refers to the other tables.

This is the table I had until today:

It is a beautiful table. When it is clean. Which isn't as often as I'd like. Cleaning glass is just no fun. Plus the sun comes in from the windows to the side of it, magnifying the streaks that get left there each time I wipe it off. Plus, Katie and Elayna love to touch the underside, and see their hands from above. Ugh. Even more fingerprints to clean off. Also, because of the beautiful scrolls and leaves, there isn't much room for more than one chair on each side. It is also a little wobbly.

So I decided I wanted a table that was easy to clean, looked nice, and came with at least 4 matching chairs (the previous table had 3 matching, but only 2 functional). This is what I bought:


I actually got this table, 6 really nice chairs, 3 not so nice chairs, and 3 bar stools for $125. Not bad. Katie really likes using one of the bar stools to eat at the table.
The table top needed a little work. Mom let me borrow her sander, and a dark glaze. It isn't real wood, just a wood laminate. So I barely sanded it, then put 2-3 coats of glaze on it. Then I lightly sanded it and put a clear varnish on it. Repeat 4 times. But, I am happy with how it turned out:



We ate dinner at it tonight. The cleanup was so easy, it felt very stable, and we had more room. Very nice.

Quotes, Water, Toys, and Beauty

On Sunday, Katie just amazed me with her beauty. And since we had a minute or two before we had to be to church (for once), I took some pictures. I think this one is the best:


And Elayna's feelings on the matter of posing for a picture:



I've been eating string cheese lately. It is usually an on-the-go snack, so I just eat it in bites while driving. Katie was at her cousin's house, and they had string cheese. The next time we had some, she asked if she could have her cheese like Nathaniel did-like a banana? Then I understood that she wanted to pull it apart (like peeling a banana) so it was all stringy. Cute.

Elayna is practicing standing by herself now. She will push herself up, then say "tada!". She is also walking around using furniture a lot more. She doesn't seem interested in walking yet. But the other day I saw her supporting herself on the wall as she "walked" down the hall. She will get it eventually.

Katie was asking us last week at the Bowman's house if we could go outside and throw around the roast beef. What? Roast Beef, you know, that is flat and has lots of things on it? Grandma finally had to translate for me. She wanted to play frisbee.

Elayna was crawling around in the bathroom, playing with the tub toys while I read a book to Katie. We heard a thunk, and realized she had fallen into the tub! Luckily there wasn't any water, and she didn't act like it hurt at all. She was just surprised.

Ryan is such a bad influence on Elayna! Pepsi! She is only one year old!



Oh, it is caffeine-free? Okay, I guess that is alright. :)

The other day, at my parent's pool, I was helping Katie get out. I had taken her water wings off while she was standing on the steps. I got her towel, turned around, and saw her in the middle of the pool, without wings on! Her head was barely above water, and I think she was right on the edge between the shallow and deep ends. She can touch the bottom of the shallow end, but her head is mostly underwater. It looked like she was maybe touching, (as we analyzed the situation after the fact) but of course I jumped back in and grabbed her. I gave her a fairly good lecture, and she didn't act like it was that big of a deal.

Well. That night, after she was in bed, she just started crying, and saying she wanted her Dad. I went in and asked her what was wrong. She said she "was never going to go into the pool without wings again. Sorry." I realized it must have scared her more than I thought. I reassured her that she would have been fine. I was right there, and she could almost touch. She calmed right down and went to sleep.
How do you get the right balance between scaring them so they don't do it again, and not scaring them so bad they have nightmares? Tough.

Katie does love being in to pool though. Her and Abby (her cousin) love to jump in together. In fact, Katie will start counting while she is running around the edge so she can jump in at exactly the same time as Abby, whether Abby knows it or not.

Ryan likes to collect toys. See?
One of the best things about this is his joy in receiving said toys. Katie and Ryan (and sometimes Elayna) will take pictures of the "guys", then open them, take more pictures, and then they get to play with them. I liked how this picture showed Ryan posing and playing with his newest toy while Katie looked on:


I guess he was hanging the guy from the mirror as though the figure was rappelling down the side of a cliff or something. It is very cute how Ryan will pose and examine and sometimes play with his figures. He doesn't JUST collect them for their history, articulation, and size. I am reminded, once again, that he collects them because they are toys.

Elayna's first birthday!

We had a birthday party for Elayna. For some reason, I don't have any pictures of her eating the cupcake, but I'm working on getting that. We had so much family there, it was great! That is what I remember most about my birthdays - having my grandparents and extended family there with my family.

This is Elayna standing all by herself:

She will walk if we hold one of her hands. She still hasn't attempted to walk by herself. Katie can sometimes lead her around by holding both her hands.

Elayna's stats for 1 year old: 19 pounds and 29 inches tall. She is healthy and on track. The doctor didn't have any concerns.

Elayna is completely weaned from breastfeeding as of Aug 19th. Hurray! As I was telling Ryan, now I can leave for as long as I'd like, because I don't have to be back at a certain time to feed her. It is very freeing. She loves her bottle, and gets so happy when she sees it warming up. The other night I was heating up some food for Katie, but Elayna was so tired. She heard the microwave, and came over so excited! She was pretty upset when she realized the contents of the microwave were not for her. Elayna only wakes up once in a 12 hour period at night to eat. That is also very nice.

Some of Elayna's favorite things are: babies, balls, playing with Katie, saying Hi to Katie, talking to Katie, laughing with Katie, following Katie around, and watching Katie. They have been playing together outside while I weed. Let me rephrase that. Elayna follows Katie around until Katie finally gives in and lets Elayna have whatever Katie took away from her. Then it all starts over again. I think I might have actually weeded for about 15 minutes without interruption the other day!

Elayna says, "thank you" when she wants you to take something from her. She loves to point, and loves that she can convey the idea that she wants what she is pointing at.

This is supposed to be a picture of her teeth, but you can only see the top 2. Her 4th tooth on the top came in on the 20th. The grand total is now 6. Katie didn't have any teeth when she turned one.


Katie was upset last week, and as I told her to get out of the car, I heard those awful words, "I hate you!". I was, of course, a little shocked, but mostly mad. I came back over to her, and asked her, "What did you say?". She refused to say it again, seeing as I was so upset. Then I told her she needed to apologize to me. After about 30-45 mins of tantrums, screaming, yelling, spankings, scoldings, explaining that it hurt my feelings, hugs, kisses, and holding her on my and Ryan's lap, she finally did apologize. I actually had been dreading this moment in my life. I knew that one day, my child would say those words to me, and I spent many nights crying and worrying about it. Now that it is over, I think that it will hurt more when she is older, but we will probably be fighting, so maybe it won't be as bad as I've imagined?

Anyways, I remember, ONCE, I said those words in reference to my mother. I was in my room, in the basement. I remember waiting until I KNEW she had gone upstairs, gone outside, and driven away. Still, after I yelled those words, I was immediately filled with remorse and shame. Even now, thinking about it, it makes me want to cry. How could I have ever felt that way about my wonderful mother?

Katie certainly has a mind of her own:

This is the middle of August, and what does she decide to wear? Her snowboots, gloves, hat and a newborn crocheted jacket. So strange.

On Friday morning Katie came into our bedroom at about 7:15 am (I think. I was kind of asleep). She reached down and turned on our sound machine, and told Ryan, "Shh. Go back to sleep". She quietly shut our door, then went into my computer room, closed that door, opened an internet browser, found the bookmark for Sesame Street, turned up the volume, and played games/watched videos until we came and told her to stop. Then she asked if I wanted her to "lock" the computer and she proceeded to do so. Amazing. This is what happens if I don't lock my computer screen so she can't do anything on the computer.

Craig and Paula Evans Reunion

The last weekend in July was our reunion. This is for the children, in-laws, and grandchildren of my parents. We had so much fun! I love being with my family! There is such a sense of love and laughter that I enjoy so much. My sister Alisha, her son Ethan, and my brother Mike's family were there a couple days early. I tried to spend as much time as possible there during the day. My loving husband graciously offered to watch the kids each night so I could go back over and visit without kids. I usually take him up on this offer, but lately he has been working really hard on a project for work, and I have felt like I haven't seen him much. He has now completed (mostly) the project, and it has been nice to have him around more.

Back to the reunion. Thursday night, we had a girl's night at Naomi and Dennis' house. Naomi was so cute. She had special plates and cups for us. She had made special treats for us. Plus we brought lots of food. We ate, then put together little flower clips for our girls' hair. We had so much fun, and the husbands that could, watched our children for us. Thanks guys!

Some of the adults (more kind and generous adults stayed home with kids) went and played basketball in the cultural hall of the Stake Center. Now, as most of you know, I do not consider myself athletic. I actually made a couple of baskets, and dribbled it once or twice. It was fun. The wonderful thing about my family is that I can go play basketball, (not knowing or liking much about the sport) and we all still have fun. The next day we played volleyball (again, thanks to wonderful adults willing to stay with sleeping children) and had a blast.

(Re-reading this, it sure sounds like other adults took care of my kids while I had all the fun. I hope they don't feel that way. I think we tried to balance it out so everyone could have fun.)

There was also a ping pong tournament that lasted through most of the reunion. However, since I lost so early on, I didn't pay much attention to the outcome of that. :)

The kids decorated some bags my mom got for them. They had a lot of fun with the paint and markers. The adults were all right there, making sure the mess stayed on the tables. My parents thoughtfully got some scissors, a glue stick, a notebook, and some crayons to put in the bags.

Another project that the kids had fun with: my parents had some cowboy hats that they got for each child. The girls have a red rose on their hats, and the boys have a red handkerchief tied around their hats. Through much coaxing and lots of teamwork, we got pictures of all the grandchildren together. It is very cute!


After we found one, out of a million different images, that was satisfactory, my dad put names on it and we got it printed 17 times. Then, we put the picture on a sticky foam pad, put a sheet protector over it, trimmed the excess, and punched holes for a ribbon. The kids then had fun putting stickers on the front of the "frame" and they all got to take home their very own picture of all their cousins on the Evans side.

There was also, of course, lots of swimming, eating, and playing taking place. All in all, I think it was a wonderful weekend, and I believe everyone had a great time. Mom and Dad are so generous to let us have the reunion there. They have such a nice, welcoming, beautiful, and familiar home. They both put a lot of effort into making sure we are all comfortable and have stuff to do.
I'm very grateful for my Mom and Dad and the family they have raised.