Favorite Quotes from Primary Today

Teacher: "What is procrastination?"
Kid: "Isn't it like adultery?"

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Teacher: "President Eyring was born in Mexico."
Kid 1: "He doesn't look Mexican."
Kid 2: "Well, my mom doesn't look Canadian, and she was born in Canada." (His mom is white/Caucasian)

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Teacher: "Which apostle was born in Logan and likes sports?"
Kid:  "Is it L. Tom Lincoln?"

Once There Was A Snowman

... in the sun he melted... small, small, small.  I am so glad it's springtime!  I have always loved winter- the quiet while the snow falls gently; the beautiful white landscape.  But just as much as I love winter, I love being outside without stuffing two of us into five layers every time we go out.  And today was beautiful! We went for a walk and spent some time playing outside. (By the way, I have the snowman song stuck in my head now. Anyone else?)

Well, here is our life, I hope it isn't too long for you.  Caleb was in Oklahoma last week for some Army training.  Caleb finished his four-months-long Army course, which was in Missouri, at the end of October.  When he returned, he was placed in a new Utah National Guard Company (the 118th Sapper Company, if it means anything to anyone else) and was put in charge of a platoon.  He was just recently (two weeks ago) promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to 1st Lieutenant.  It's a fairly minor change in rank, but we'll take the slight pay increase.  I am so proud of him!

On the civilian side, Caleb was offered a full-time position with Layton Construction.  He's on the management team on the individual project level.  Right now he is working on a project constructing a high-end mall in Lehi.  So, yes- we are living in Brigham City and he is working in Lehi.  It kinda stinks.  However, we have chosen not to move because this project will be completed in the fall and we want to see where his next project is located before we move.  We usually spend at least a couple nights at my parents' house to cut down on the commute time.  But we are so glad he has a job.  He likes the people he is working with and enjoys his job, so it's all good.

As for me, I am really enjoying be a stay at home mom.  Achaia has been so good to me.  She's starting to try out her independence and I know once we add more kids life will get more crazy.  But being at home really is the place for me.  Sometimes it is hard, but it is great, too.  We (Achaia and I) love to take walks outside or just play in the yard.  We spend a fair bit of time with Caleb's two sisters and their families when we're in Brigham City.  They have young kids so I feel right at home hanging out with them.  Um... what else to say about what I do?  I try to keep the house, do a few little fun projects, and spend quality time with Achaia.

I currently am serving in the ward primary as secretary, and the unofficial substitute pianist.  Caleb is the Teacher's Quorum adviser.  Right now Achaia comes to primary with me, but in a couple more months, she will be in nursery! I think she will really like it.  While I'm on church stuff, the Brigham City temple is just up the street from us and it looks so good.  The exterior is done and they are currently working on the landscaping and the interior.  It is supposed to be done in the fall and we are very excited to be a part of this neat experience in our little community.

And here's a little bit about Achaia.  She is walking like crazy now.  She started walking around Christmas time, when she was about 13 months old.  She is even starting to run a little.  Walking outside is one of her favorite activities.  She can say a ton of words- too many to count now.  Here are a few of her favorites:  "What's-that" (this was her very first word/phrase), "walk", "rock", "cracker", "car", "go-go-go", "belly", "Dadda", "Momma", "Papa" (grandpa), "ball", "book", and so on.  She also knows the sounds of a lion, tiger, dog, cat, cow, car, monkey, horse, and a few others.  And she can point out most of her body parts when prompted.  She is so smart and can communicate her needs pretty well.  And she can follow one-step directions, like put something there or take this to someone.  I just love her so much and love to brag about her.  Below are some fun pictures of our life:

Achaia was walking around with her hands behind her back so Caleb was copying her. Sorry it's blurry- it was a phone picture and they were moving fast.

Bed head

She loves to pull the pans out and sit or stand in them.

Cute, huh?  Walking near my parents' house.

Wearing Daddy's uniform.

We were walking outside at my parents' and Achaia kept bending over to look through her legs. It was funny!

Me and Achaia

Playing in the snow

I love this picture of Achaia!

I was doing some dishes and thought she was simply playing with the radio.  But when I turned around, this is what I found.  She stepped into our can-rotator thingy.  She was able to get herself out, too.

Achaia and Caleb at the Living Planet Aquarium. She loved seeing the animals, and especially loved the gift shop and hugging all the stuffed animals.  She grabbed these penguins and ran away with them.

The Holidays

 Time to play a little catch up again.  In November, Caleb's brother Gabe was married at the Logan Temple.  We had a good time spending the whole day with the Sharp family.

We also celebrated Achaia's FIRST Birthday in November.  We had a simple party with her grandparents and some family that lived close.  They all came over in the evening for dinner and cake.  We made her a yellow ducky cake, because that was the first animal she could identify.  She would get real excited while she pointed and said "duck!"  She also opened presents, which included some clothes, a toy walker, stuffed animal, and some books.  On her first birthday, she couldn't yet walk on her own, but loved to walk around while she held our fingers.  She could also say about a dozen words, including "duck", "what's-that", "dada", "dog", and "fwoh (woof)".

Our family at the Logan Temple after Gabe's wedding

Achaia and her duck cake

Opening presents

After the traditional First Birthday Cake

 For Thanksgiving, we spent the day with the Peterson family.  We had a great time seeing all the family and playing games together.  Then in December, we attended several Christmas parties with the ward, work, and the military.  It's always fun to get out and spend time with family and friends.  I enjoyed meeting some people that Caleb works with and knows at work and in the military.  Speaking of which, Caleb is currently working with Layton and Construction and is in the 118th Engineer Sapper Company for the military.
The Sharps celebrated Christmas a week before so everyone could attend.  As always, it was a good time!  Then we spend the days around Christmas in Salt Lake with the Petersons.  Most of my pictures below are of Achaia.  I realized there aren't too many of us.  But what can I say?  She's just so cute!

Achaia reading with Matt and Amy

Achaia loves sitting in boxes, bins, and baskets.  She was delighted that this one fit her just right!

She loved taking the bows off the presents.  She helped us all get the bows while we opened presents.

She got a panda bear that is bigger than her.  She loves stuffed animals and gives them great big hugs.

She also got this Disney princess car.  It has buttons all over that make music and the seat even opens to a compartment.

Holli, Adriann, and Caleb playing Just Dance 3.

New Years was celebrated at my dad's brother, Jeff's house.  The evening was filled with good food, games, and bingo!  It was fun to hang out with this side of the family and we even got some cool prizes!

A Glimpse

I have been a bit behind on my blog, so I wanted to use this post to give you a glimpse of the happenings of our family during the summer and up until a few weeks ago.  I am going to use pictures and captions to tell the story.  Enjoy!

Visited the Air Force Museum at Hill Air Force Base.

Achaia enjoying swimming.

The Sharps at Bear Lake

Watched the Angel Moroni get placed on the Brigham City Temple (this picture is from our front yard!)

We went camping at Payson Lakes with some family friends.

Achaia on the beach at Payson Lakes after deciding the water was too cold. (Can you see her "fangs" just inside her mouth? Those two top teeth were her first teeth to come in.)

Taking pictures at the Manti Temple, just before visiting my sister at Snow College

Visiting Thanksgiving Point.  Achaia was overdue for a nap so it was hard to get a good picture.  I loved this face she is pulling, though.

Achaia's aunt put her hair in pigtails. I think she looks so cute, but it also makes her look older- more like a toddler than my little baby!

One of our favorite things to do is going for a walk!

Florida and Caribbean Trip, Part 2

The second week of our trip in June was spent on a cruise in the Caribbean! We were on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. It is one of their largest ships (maybe even the biggest?).

The first day of the cruise we were at sea. So we got settled in, explored the ship, and enjoyed a quiet day.  The cruise ship was so fun.  We loved traveling this way because we only had to unpack once and just about everything is included, even food!  The our cruise ship had a rock climbing wall, multiple pools, mini golf, FlowRider (for surfing or body boarding), ice skating, many restaurants and dining rooms, a theater, among other things.  Every day we returned to our room, there was an itinerary for the next day and a towel animal. 

The second day we arrived at Labadee, Haiti.  This port is leased by Royal Caribbean and is very tourist-y.  But we loved it!  We went on a historic tour and learned a lot about the history of Haiti.  Then we had a great time watching Caleb speak to the natives in their own language (Caleb spoke Haitian Creole on his LDS mission in Florida).  The people were so surprised that this white guy could speak their language!  We also enjoyed lounging on the beach and in the warm, beautiful water.

Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures in Haiti.   But we did buy this red dress in Haiti.  This picture is on the bed in our stateroom.  (Excuse the red eye, I just noticed it and don't want to reload another picture.)

The third day we arrived in Falmouth, Jamaica.  Caleb and I didn't have anything planned to do at this port, so we explored some shops and saw some of the countryside while on the bus to the shops.  The picture below was taken while we were waiting to get back on the bus to return to the port.

Caleb and Achaia at some shops near Falmout Jamaica. The bus in the background says "Chicken's Magic Bus Tours"

On the fourth day, we stopped at Georgetown, Grand Cayman.  The ship couldn't come into port here, so we took smaller boats to shore.  At Grand Cayman, we went on a boat tour of the salt water forest.  The salt water forest is made of mangrove trees.  These trees are unique because they use salt water, not fresh water like most trees.  This tour was nice and we learned about some of the animals in Grand Cayman.  On the ride back from the tour, we stopped by Seven Mile Beach.  This beach was beautiful!! We were going to swim here, but Achaia was so tired and grumpy, we decided to head back to the ship.

Holli and Achaia on the ferry to Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

Grandma Peterson (far left), Achaia and Holli on Seven Mile Beach. (Beautiful, huh?!)

The fifth day and last place we stopped was Cozumel, Mexico.  Here we went to the Tulum Mayan ruins.  There was quite a bit of walking, but it was really neat to see the ruins.  All the doors and entryways on the ruins were short, so Caleb and I thought we could fit right in, back in their day.  After our tour, we found an LDS tour guide that told us a little about the ruins from a Book of Mormon stand point.  That was really interesting to connect the three portions of the Mayan temple to the three members of the Godhead.

The tour guide offered us an umbrella for shade.  At one point I was holding all this and a bottle in Achaia's mouth.  I love this baby carrier, though!  We used it a ton on the trip.

Then we spent one more day at sea before we arrived at Cape Canaveral, Florida.  The last day we tried to do everything on the ship that we hadn't done yet.  For me it was trying the body boarding on the FlowRider.  Then we got every packed up to disembark the ship the next day.  After we disembarked, we got a few rental cars and got ready to go separate ways.  Caleb, Grandma Peterson, and Grandma Bailey went to Orlando to catch a flight home.  Caleb had to get ready to go to Missouri because his Army training started the next week.  My mom and dad, threes sisters, Achaia, and I traveled down to Miami to spend a few days with some family friends, the Fabianos.

Achaia did pretty well at 7-months.  She had her moments of tiredness or grumpiness, but overall she was a trooper.  We enjoyed bringing her along, even though it was a lot of work.

Florida and Caribbean Trip, Part 1

In June, we spent a few weeks with my parents and sisters on a trip to Florida and a cruise in the Caribbean. The trip was for my sister's high school graduation. And it was our Christmas and birthday presents for the last few years as my parents saved up to take us all on this trip. We took Achaia with and had a lot of fun! Here are some highlights of our trip.

We spent the first few days in Disney World. We went to Epcot the first day. We made sure to get to the Test Track and Mission Space rides first before they got to busy. Then we spent the afternoon at the World Showcase. France and Mexico were my favorites, but we didn't get to see all of the countries because Achaia needed a nap. For the record, I thought the Baby Care Center in Epcot was the nicest of all four Disney parks. In Epcot, Achaia got to ride the Finding Nemo one and the boat ride in Mexico.

Our little family outside the Finding Nemo ride.

Caleb and Achaia waiting for the shuttle back to the hotel.

The second day we went to Animal Kingdom. This was my favorite park in Disney World. There were lots of trees for shade, fun rides, and animals to see through out the park. We really enjoyed Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, and It's Tough to be a Bug show.

Baby elephant on Kilimanjaro Safari.

Mama and Papa Lion on Kilimanjaro Safari

The third day we split with Hollywood Studios in the morning and Magic Kingdom in the evening. In Hollywood Studios, we liked Tower of Terror and the Indiana Jones show. Magic Kingdom was really busy, but we got Fast Passes to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain so we didn't have to wait too long in line. (If you are traveling with kids that are too small to ride, I would definitely recommend the Rider Swap option. You just go the ride entrance, ask for Rider Swap, and go wait at the exit- which is usually and air conditioned gift shop. Then when the rest of the family gets done, you can leave the child with them and three people can take the Fast Pass line. It was really nice!)

I didn't get any pictures of Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom, so I will have to get some from my family and post them next time I visit my family. We had a lot of fun in Disney World. It was kid friendly and there is so much to see and do! My family spend two more days in Disney World, but Caleb, Achaia and I went to Fort Lauderdale, where Caleb served his mission, for the next couple days.

And I will have to post the rest of my trip later when I get on a PC. Our Ipad won't let me post blogs. I can comment on blogs, but not write a blog. Weird. I will just have to leave you all in suspense of more pictures and details. :)

Six Months!

Achaia is now 6 months old! Where does the time go? It still seems like she should be 3 month s old. She is still an angel and we love every day with her!
At her 6 month appointment, she was 16 lbs 7 oz (60%) and 27 inches (90%). Still really healthy and doing well. She got shots at this appointment and for the first time, she got a fever and wasn't feeling good that evening. It was my first taste of having a sick baby (beyond a stuffy nose and small cough). I hope she doesn't get sick too much, but I know it will probably happen some time or other. It's just hard to see her miserable.
This last month we celebrated Easter with her. We didn't do anything real extravagant, but we did go to my Grandma Peterson's house for Easter dinner. It was fun to spend time with family and enjoy Grandma's delicious dinner.
Achaia has started babbling mini-words. She started with da-da. Then she figured out ma-ma and mum-mum. Ma-ma is her favorite, at least for the last few days. She rotates them every few days.
Since she was 4 months old, we have been feeding her rice cereal and pureed carrots, sweet potatoes, and sweet peas. Now at 6 months, we started feeding her mashed fruits and other mashed foods she can easily eat. Of the baby foods, she seems to like pears and peas the most, but it depends on how hungry she is.
Some other fun things about Achaia are she is pretty ticklish. We can get her laughing pretty good in the evenings before bed when she is a little giddy. Caleb is the best and most consistent at getting her to laugh. I have only been able to get her to laugh a couple of times. But she gives her smiles away freely and that is good enough for me.
She scoots backward with her hands when on her belly and forward with her feet when she is laying on her back. She hasn't yet figured out how to crawl, but I still have to keep an eye on her because of her scooting. Also, she can sit really well on her own, but I try to stay within arms reach because she still tips over once in a while. We are excited to see her crawl. It will open a whole new world to her.

Baby's 1st Easter

Sitting all by herself

Sitting with the Boppy because she is still a little tipsy

Dressed warm and ready for a walk in the brisk morning air

In the middle of a raspberry and a funny face

She found her toes and is thinking of trying to stick them in her mouth