mount timpanogas cave

dear eleanor...a daily log May 2007

may 28, 2007

• first memorial day
• spent the morning with your cousin Ashley. she was so pleased you played with her for 3 hours. you laughed with her every time she would laugh at you and you loved having her walk you around the house
• you got your very first cowboy hat (cream color straw... cute!)
• you had your first bite of corn and seemed to enjoy it
• went to both grandma and grandpa m. at their house but for only a few minutes each. you normally will let grandpa m. hold you more then grandma m.
• played with zack, ashley and derek during the jazz game. when ever you are around zack you yell (your version of talking) and start flinging your hands in the air. zack copies you and you get the biggest kick out it.
• like always you sang and talked in the car until you fell asleep. for the most part you LOVE your car seat and going on rides.
• and of course you cuddled up with your soft teddy bear while you went to bed. you love your teddy bear and each night you either cuddle with it or lay it on top of your cute little body. you are soo cute when you are sleeping! you always sleep on your back and like having your head all the way up against the edge of your crib.

may 29, 2007

• spent most of the day outside and loved it!
• i can't figure you out...you are terrified of the vacuum but yet you LOVE the lawn mower
• you are getting closer and closer to crawling. you can go from sitting to your hands and knees. after just a few inches you sit back on your little behind and then start the process over. its so cute but you are starting to get frustrated. hopefully within a few days you'll get the hang of it.
• you got your first little cut today. you were playing with dad's mountain dew can and got your thumb stuck in the opening. we were trying to help you get your thumb out but you were afraid we were just taking away the can so you pinched your thumb harder and started throwing a little fit. the cut wasn't too bad and i think you were more upset that we took the can away.
• you got a new little table and chairs from ikea for your bedroom. its so cute and i can't wait until you can sit up to it!
• you also got a train set from ikea. dad was playing with it and it made you up set. you wanted ALL four trains to yourself!
• you started grinding your teeth again! you had stopped for a few weeks, but decided you missed it.

may 30, 2007

• hiked (aka mom carried me) mount timpanogas cave. you sang and talked ALL the way up and slept the way down.
• your new favorite book is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" with each change of a page you gasp, yell and kiss the photos. your favorite page is the last with the photo of the butterfly which you kiss each time!
• you went to your Savannah's dance concert and you could not keep your eyes of the dancers. your favorite song was Sir Mix-A-Lot - Jump On It. you got excited and held your hands up in the air and started dancing.
• you played with ashley and zack during the jazz game. they were playing video games and you had to be right in the middle of them. you also got into a screaming contest with them and of course you won. you ALWAYS have to have the last scream

may 31, 2007

• you've discovered the frozen berry drinks and costco and love them. you had to hold the cup yourself and drank over half the drink. you drank it so fast you kept getting brain freezes
• your crawling is getting better and better. your up to about 2 "step" crawls.
• we found your favorite toy "lilly" and you went crazy when you heard the little song
• went to the day care at the gym for the first time. you did great! i think it helped having your little friend evan hacking with you
• you did "et phone home" over and over today and kept laughing after each time

dirt+smoke+bugs= one fun camping trip

Last Sunday we decided it would be fun to go camping for memorial day weekend. Leave it to us to wait until the last minute to make plans...and for those of you who know a little about camping, memorial day weekend is one of the busiest time. So come early Friday morning Jay, Zack, Eleanor and I all headed up to Payson Lake in hopes of getting a campsite. We got to Payson Lakes about 10:30 am and there were only 4 or 5 campsites left. We were surprised that we got such a great campsite. It was close to the lake and very secluded. The rest of the clan did not show up until 8:30 and 10:00 pm, so Jay and I had a few hours to burn.

John totally lucked out on this camp trip. He got out of packing, loading the car and most importantly setting up camp! Lets just say its not very easy setting up a tent for your first time alone with an eight month old! By the time I was done Eleanor's face, mouth, hands and clothes were covered in dirt! She LOVED it!

Friday night Eleanor woke up at 2am screaming! We could not get her to calm down so John and I took her to the car (we didn't want to wake the entire mountain). She finally calmed down and we ended up sleeping in the car. The next afternoon we discovered Eleanor no longer had just four teeth, but that her firth tooth broke through. Poor girl!

Saturday morning John, Eleanor and I got up around 7 am and headed down to the lake to do a little fishing. Within 5 minutes John caught his first fish. He then put me in charge of watching his poll and we missed a few bites.

When we got back to camp, everyone thought we had left last night after Eleanor started screaming and they were surprised to see us (The thought of leaving did occur). The rest of Saturday was spent fishing, hiking around the lake, playing games, cooking the fish, eating and enjoying being in the great out doors!

Saturday Eleanor had played so hard she was OUT all night! That next morning we had our tent down and packed before 7am. Again we headed down to the lake to do one last fishing trip. John was the only one who made it down to the lake. Eleanor and I took an hour and half nap in the car. When we got back to the camp site everyone else was packed and ready to go.

We got home around 11 am and spent most the afternoon unpacking, doing laundry and resting. Its amazing how tiring camping can be! But we had a GREAT time! Eleanor LOVED being outside and hanging out with her cousins. Hopefully we'll get at least one more camping trip in before the summer is over.

la comida mexicana...

When ever I'm asked what my favorite food is, I ALWAYS answer mexican . Lucky for me Salt Lake has a great mexican joint, the Red Iguana. Growing up in St. Johns, AZ, I've always compared mexican food to the local el camino. I'm happy to say the Red Iguana comes in a close second place. The food and atmosphere are outstanding! May I recommend the chips and salsa of course, the chile verde chimichanga and of you can't skip the sopapias!

We (Amy, Mom, Dick, Janet and Eleanor) just had lunch there and of course we all way too satisfied. I'm in need of a nap and time to allow my food digest...

wednesday's activities

• planted moss in rock patio
• cleaned out and washed BOTH cars with the help of my mom
• picked john up from the airport *yipee*
• met with Nevon at the UofU
• dropped the car off at the airport for amy
• went to the umfa with mom and eleanor
• ate a late lunch at biaggi's with john, mom and eleanor
• visited the rocky mountain chocolate factory and left with a few carmel apples
• baby sat zack
• looked for bugs with zack
• found only worms for zack
• going to watch american idol and hope blake doesn't go home!

brian kershisnik & robert sabuda

I love museums. Art museums especially. If you live or are planning on being in utah the next few weeks, you need to go to the UMFA on the University of Utah campus. Currently there are two great exhibits. Brian Kershisnik and Robert Sabuda. The paints by Kershisnik are outstanding! The colors, textures and content are amazing. There is just something so splendid about seeing original art work. All the pieces in this show were HUGE. At one point I got sick of carrying Eleanor, so I placed her on the floor right in the middle of the gallery. I wish I'd had my camera to capture the difference in size. It would have been a great photo. Speaking Eleanor, she was so hyperactive in the museum. I think she loved all the bright colors and the echo of her voice (which she did not hesitate to use!).






The other artist was Robert Sabuda. Sabuda is a leading children's pop-up book artist and paper engineer. His work blows my mind!! My mom also LOVED this artist and bought two books. She bought my dad the Twelve Days of Christmas and Eleanor the Christmas Book. They are two great books! I'm sure Eleanor will grow up loving this special Christmas Book.

mothers day

Yesterday was my first mothers day! It wasn't your typical mothers day, but I had a great day!
We had to leave bright and early to take John to the airport. He had to go to New York for work. He felt bad he couldn't spend the day with me, but I just told him he'd have to make up for it later!

Sara and Dick stopped by on their way back to Arizona. They didn't stay long, but it was fun seeing them one last time. Eleanor had gone down for a nap so she didn't get to say goodbye to aunt Sara and Uncle Dick.

I totally shocked myself and went to church! I was planning on just staying home and watching the Sopranos. I was thrilled when I tried on the outfit aunt Amanda gave Eleanor and it fit!! She looked adorable and the older man sitting next to me told me he thinks he 's in love with Eleanor!! Of course she stared, smiled and snorted at him during the entire meeting.

After church I was in no mood to cook, so Eleanor and I got take out at the Olive Garden and got two episodes of the Sopranos in. John's brother, Scott, and his family had invited us over to watch the Jazz game so I made a batch of oatmeal-chocolate cookies and headed over. We ate TONS of dessert and watched a great game!!! I'm not really a Jazz fan, but I was happy they won last night. I'm hoping the next round will include the Suns and Jazz.

So that was my first mothers day. Of course I talked to John every few hours. He too had a great day. He was able to spend a few hours playing tour guide in Manhattan and enjoyed a yummy room service order of creme brule (my fav) and a strawberry milk shake (total of $36.00 ...thanks GoldmanSachs). I wish I could have been with him. Next trip!!

saturday with ellie

6am weeding with mom while dad sleeps



two toys: teething gell and dirt



very first bite of dirt


ticked she couldn't have more


seeing dad first thing in the morning


modeling two teeth


bath time



??



waiting for mom to finish mowing lawn

6 hour surprise..

On Thursday while John was at work, Eleanor and I spent most of the day cleaning and organizing the basement. Over the last 3 years we have accumulated so much junk and most of it has found its way into our basement and it's been driving me NUTS! My plan was to wait to start on it after John leaves for New York this week, but I had to go down there to get something and I decided it couldn't wait any longer! I wasn't so sure how much Eleanor was going to allow me to get done, so I had to come up with a few ways to keep her entertained. I placed her in a swing, saucer, bumbo chair....but what worked the best was a tote full of toys. She lasted a good 2 hours playing with her toys and other little nic-nacs I found. John was thrilled when he came home from work! I didn't quite finish all of it, but you can see that I've come ALONG way.

graduation, family and food

What a great day! Kara graduated from the University of Utah Law School today! It was so much fun spending the day with Kara, her kids, Janet, Eleanor and the two Dicks! The ceremony was awesome and you couldn't help but feel proud for each graduate! There is just something so fun, exciting and inspirational about graduations. It's so late and there so much I wanted to write about today, but I'm going to go with a simple list:

My favorite things about today:
* the class photo- finding Kara, Jay and Jim
* photo of Kara and her kids
* the weather
* uofu campus
* spending time with sara and dick
* eleanor sitting on the floor in the isle
* zach giving all the graduates high five
* eleanor thinking all the clapping and cheering was for her
* thinking about john's graduation just last year
* making new goals
* kara's toast
* tiffany boxes and heart necklesses
* my spinach, shrimp, scallops and lobster raviolis
* breakfast at the bakery
* putting eleanor's feet in the pool
* eleanor not happy with JUST her feet in the pool
* the drive home with john

Three years and counting...

Yesterday was our third year anniversary! Eleanor and I spent the morning and afternoon in Arizona. We had lunch with Mimi and Grandpa then flew into Salt Lake at 5:30. John was there to greet us and it was so cute watching Eleanor and John see each other. They were both so excited!! I had called my cousin, Kelly, the night before to see if she could watch Eleanor while John and I went out to eat. John felt guilty dropping Eleanor off after only seeing her for a few mintues, but we did and we had a really nice dinner. Eleanor was okay for Kelly. We left her for a little over an hour and she cried for 20 mins.
It's kind of wild to think we've been married for three years! I can't really decide if it feels longer or shorter then three years. We've had a lot of great memories these past three years! As for now, I'm really happy where we stand, but I wonder what new memories we'll have three years from now?
Well, I had a great time in Arizona this last week. It was nice spending time with family. Eleanor LOVED getting so much attention from her cousins. We had T over the weekend and he and Eleanor loved each other. I can't wait until they get a little older and can interact more.
It's always so much fun going away, but its also nice coming home. Of course John had the house and yard looking great! While I was gone he had planted three new trees. I'm happy to say our yard is just about complete!! I'm so anxious to spend time outside this summer. I know Eleanor is going to LOVE hanging out outside. Yeah for summer time!!!

Eleanor doesn't like grass...

or maybe she just hates getting her picture taken. This afternoon I tried taking a few photos of Eleanor out on the freshly cut grass but Eleanor was not having it. My goal was to get a good photo of her two bottom teeth....but no such luck. I guess we'll have to try again tomorrow.

Getting the hang of this...

Okay, this is my third attempt at creating a blog. I first started a blog on blogspot but then found Wordpress. I LOVED the layout of wordpress but for some reason it was taking too long to download each time I opened it. So, now I'm back to blogspot. I'm actually really happy with blogspot. It's so much easier and user friendly. I'll be glad once I get everything set up just the way I want.