October 2011

This was taken mid October. I seriously have the cutest girls ever!  I love my Annalisa, Elayna, and Katie!!

Katie and Elayna put up Halloween decorations Oct 8. Do you see any resemblance to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder here? 

Another decoration that Katie made. It is a ghost saying "BOO" and a little mouse saying "AAA". I thought it was very creative and cute.

The Temple Groundbreaking ceremony was on Oct 8, 2011. I had gotten up at 6 AM to go volunteer with the Bountiful Basket Co-op, and was pretty tired out when it was time to go to the church to watch the ceremony. In fact, I thought I had run out of time, and was discouraged that I wouldn't have time to get ready and go. When I got home, Ryan convinced me to go, and I took Katie. I am so glad I went!! It was such a wonderful spiritual experience. I thought it would be a prayer, some digging, and we would be done.

This is an artist's rendition of the Payson Utah Temple. It is amazingly gorgeous! I am so excited to have a temple so close by.  

Elder Dallin H Oaks presided over the ceremony. He had lived in Spring Lake during summers as a child, so had some fun memories and attachments to the area. Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy is the executive director of the Temple Department. He talked about the importance of temple work. Sister Janette Hales Beckham, General Young Women president from 1992 to 1997 and a Spanish Fork native, also spoke.   Elder Steven E. Snow of the Presidency of the Seventy, and Sister Vicki V. Walker, wife of Elder Walker talked also. It was such a spiritual experience. I was so glad that I went, and dragged Katie along with me.

Irma and Jerry drove down the Oregon Coast Oct 8-16, and Mom and Dad went to Mike and Kristine's house Oct 12-19.  My life seems so boring and I feel like I have no one to visit or talk to when either or both sets of parents are gone. Which is silly, since I have tons of family all around me.

Happy Annalisa:

Annalisa tried rice cereal Oct 3 and peas on Oct 21. She was happy with both, and is excited to try new foods.


Red Ribbon Week at school was fun for Katie. On Friday, Oct 14, they had crazy hair day, and they also had a field trip to the fire station. Elayna, of course, also had to have crazy hair. The field trip was really interesting too. The kids got to spray the fire hose, watch as one child had the fire safety suit put on (poor little girl could barely hold all those clothes up), and yell as loud as they could. The firefighter told them that in case of a fire, they should get on the ground, start towards the door, yell as loudly as possible, and he would come find them no matter what. Very good advice. Plus, getting them to yell loudly was a good idea. Most kids are told to not yell, so this was a good experience.

There was a day that I want to remember forever. Katie and Elayna convinced me to come play in the backyard with them. I was holding Annalisa, so it was not very easy, but we kicked some big balls back and forth. We ran a little, and played in the leaves. Then I told them I couldn't do it anymore. I sat on the back patio, holding Annalisa on my lap, watching Katie and Elayna play on the swing set. The sun was at just the right angle, and shown through the leaves as though it was a spotlight, turned directly on them. There was a slight wind, and the sun was warm. Their hair was glistening, and they were giggling and laughing and having so much fun. They would take turns standing on the slide, then "falling" and sliding under the sister that was below them on the slide. Then they would both slide down to the bottom, giggling the whole way. It truly looked like a commercial for a perfect sister moment. 10-15-11

October 16, Ryan and the girls were playing downstairs. Elayna fell and hit her head on the piano. She cried for a while, then Ryan sent her upstairs to go to the bathroom or something. The back of her hair felt wet, and I thought it was sweat, from playing so much. But when I looked, she was bleeding. We put some ice on it, and held her close for a while.

  I wondered if we should have brought her to the doctor, but Ryan convinced me it was small enough that we didn't need to worry about it. Of course, he was right, and it healed fine, as you can see.

 Us girls cuddling on the couch at Irma's house:

Annalisa figured out how to sit by herself on Oct 28:

She was pretty happy with the accomplishment:

Annalisa can hold her bottle (and sippy cup) for 20 seconds by herself. She loves her sisters, and gets so excited when she hears or sees them. Katie can carry her around, and they both seem to enjoy that. Katie can make her laugh more than anyone else.

Elayna's 3 year checkup was on Oct 26. She weighs 30 lbs, and is doing fantastic. The night before, I filled out a 4 page questionnaire that the clinic had mailed to me. All about her motor skills, her social skills, eating and sleeping habits, etc. I think it made the appointment go a lot faster, because the doctor could see at a glance how she was doing, and he didn't need to take the time to test if she could jump, or walk up stairs, etc.

A perfect fall day to play in the leaves. Oct 29: 

Annalisa has been sleeping in the bassinet all this time. We finally got the crib up and put her in it Oct 28. She slept all night long, without waking to eat or anything. The next morning I put her in the bassinet, and took this picture. She was way too squished!! No wonder she slept so well in the crib.

She tried some carrots that I had cooked and put through a hand held baby grinder thing. I think they were too solid. She didn't like them at all. It wasn't smooth, like baby food, so I think it was hard for her to eat.

My parents had their annual Halloween party. The kids have fun with the obstacle course downstairs and seeing all the fun costumes. Katie was a vampire butterfly. (I know, what?):

 Elayna was a cuddly Care Bear:

 Showing off the wings:

 All 3 girls together in their costumes. Annalisa was a cute little pumpkin.

We met at a Mexican restaurant in Provo with the Bowman's for Halloween. I drove up with the 3 girls by myself because Ryan needed to stay at work for a little while. He came to the restaurant later. When I got out of the car, I found out that Elayna had messed her underwear, so I took her into the bathroom and tried to change her. Thank goodness Irma and Jerry were already there to watch Katie and Annalisa while I was helping Elayna. Trying to change a 3 year old, in a bathroom that doesn't have a counter, much less a diaper changing station, is not very fun. It had gone all the way through the underwear, the clothes she was wearing, and the costume. Thankfully I had some extra clothes that we changed her into.  Not much later, she did it again and I had to go through the process again. Ugh. At least this time it had just messed her underwear, so I put a diaper on her because I could tell she had diarrhea, and wasn't going to be able to keep her underwear clean the rest of the night. We were going bowling after dinner.

The dinner wasn't a great experience, mostly cause I was in a bad mood. The Bowman's all helped, of course, but I was just onery. I had convinced myself that I wasn't going to go bowling, because I was tired, the girls were tired, and I was not very happy. Ryan convinced me that I should try it, and the girls would be fine. Once again, he was right, of course, and it turned out to be very fun. Katie and Elayna really enjoyed pushing the bowling ball down the ramp.

As we were leaving town to go to Halloween festivities with the Bowmans, the 2nd stoplight in Santaquin started working.  It is so crazy to have 2 stoplights in Santaquin, and both within the last year.

Some cute pictures of Annalisa to end with: 

 Pretty smile:

 Her ab workout: