Vacation- Day 1

After waking early, flying across the country and eating at our traditional Crown Burger on North Temple (There were other people from our flight there too. We had to laugh), we made it to Ann's house with time to play and iron clothes for Emmy's Baptism.

I can't believe Emmy is already 8 and that Riley will be a senior in high school. We were so happy to be part of this special day. Our little kids made it fun too. Jack started to take off his shoes because he wanted to get into the "pool" with Emmy.

Before heading up to Logan to see Ryan's family, we let Jack take a quick dip in the pool with Hayden. As you can see, Jack is fond of swimming and Hayden. We left the Parry/Greenwood clan with a taste of what was to come at the family reunion the next weekend and headed North.

We stopped in Brigham City to pick up dinner from Maddox and had a picnic with the grandparents. It was tradition to stop in the Brigham City Cemetery to visit the graves of my great grandparents on our way to Bear Lake and now we stop to see my grandparents too. And Ryan has a set of grandparents, a great- grandmother and an uncle buried just a stone's throw from my family.
Adeline's middle name comes from her Great-Great Grandmother Valborg Henriette Louise Rasmussen Wheelwright who is buried here. I hope she will have her independent, determined spirit.
Addy would have melted Grandpa Max's heart and I am pretty sure that Grandma Ann would laugh at Jack's antics and tell me that I was in for it. I was blessed with the opportunity to help care for my grandmother in the last few months/weeks of her life. The middle of the night conversations waiting for her pain medicine to kick in will be some of my cherished memories and her last journal entry stated that she thought Ryan and I were well suited and that she was sure marriage would come.

Picture on the top- I am standing at my grandparent's graves and Ryan is next to the tree looking at his grandparent's graves.

Picture on the bottom- I am at Ryan's grandparent's graves and Ryan is near the black car and my grandparent's graves.

Then it was off to Logan to see an excited Grandma and Great Grandma.

Dare Devil Addy Lou

She will climb anything. This is one of her favorite toys at her Grandma and Grandpa Parry's house. She will soon be riding a motorcycle and jumping ravines. My dad could not believe what she was willing to try to climb. She is also the first grandchild to figure out how to open my parent's wood burning stove. She is a bright, daring and joyful girl.


We are home safe and sound from our trip to Utah. We saw a grandma, a grandpa, a more grandpa, a great grandmother and lots of uncles, aunts and cousins. The weather was a little rainy and cold but we had a great time. We returned home to a very happy Ryan. I wish I had a picture of Jack running to give him a hug. More delightful stories and pictures to come!

Riding the Maid of the Mist*

6 weeks ago, (yep, we're talking April) two of my dear friends from Australia came to stay with me. We were their first stop in a whirlwind tour of the United States. I was so happy to spend time with them and can't wait until we see them again.

Amy and Cheryl

Cheryl and I did the crossword puzzle every day while we made dinner when I got home from work. Living with the Campbell family during my 4 months in Australia was a great time. Cheryl's husband, Neil, refers to it as the time he had two wives. He knew that I would always take Cheryl's side so he had to debate us both.

Cheryl and Tamara.

Tamara was 11 years old when she gave up her room for me to live in for 4 months.

Addy's first time seeing the falls.

*we tried but the Maid of the Mist was still dry docked for the winter. They also missed the tours in Palymra because we arrived just as the sites closed at 6 p.m. (Who knew they closed so early?) So they got my version of the tour that I have taken too many times to count and got to take pictures in the Sacred Grove and in front of the Temple Gates.

Post Nap Hair

This is her cute hair after her nap yesterday. Scroll down to the previous post to see the cuteness that was her hair. I laughed so hard when I went to get her after her nap. She's still pretty cute. It took lots of water to make it go down so she would be presentable for going to the store after dinner.

Addy Lou

We'll see how long these stay in her hair. But aren't they cute. Well, it's actually the little girl that is so cute but the cute hair is fun too.

Adeline speaks:
"Uh-Oh"
"Shoe" (pronounced shooooooooooe)
"Ba" (ball)
"Ma-Ma"
"Da-da"
"Amen"

and
yesterday both Ryan and I heard her say "Hi Jack" when she went in to wake Jack up.


She continues to be a lovey love. She snuggles, dances, spins, walks, climbs, and laughs.

Mama loves Mambo

Or I should say, "Jack loves mambo."


We went to see the BYU Ballroom Dance Company perform an exhibition last night at our Stake Center. I thought Jack would like the music but I had no idea how much he would love the dancing. After each performance he would clap and say, "Again!?!"

By far his favorite dance was the mambo. The music really got to him and his hips were shaking, his feet tapping and he tried to copy the moves of the dancers. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. He was so excited by the dancing. He even did a repeat performance when I had him show Daddy what the dancers did, as Ryan was not able to go with us. (If you see him, ask him what the dancers did. I promise you will not be disappointed.)

I must note that we were sitting in the second row behind our friends and by the time the mambo started, Jack had climbed through the folding chair of his little friend Samantha and pretty much pushed her out of the way for a better view. He then stood in front of the front row, with his Barney doll, and proceeded to shake his tail feathers. Our friends were very good sports and kept him from running on to the dance floor no matter how eager he was to join the dancers. Thank you to Kelly and Chris and Wende and Kurt who helped corral my children.

During an introduction to one of the dances, it was very quiet and and Jack yelled, "More Dancing" and "More Singing." (Singing is his term for any music.) Glad this was a free performance. (Trust me, I would not have taken him to a paid performance but I thought this was a great way to expose him to dance in a somewhat informal performance)

One of my favorite dances was a dance set to an instrumental adaptation of If You Could Hie to Kolob. Not one of my favorite hymns so I thought I would not like it but the choreography was captivating and the music was beautiful. Jack loved the lifts in this performance and kept saying "Look, airplane in the sky." when the girls were lifted into the air. Click on the above link to see parts of this dance.

I only saw the BYU Ballroom Dancers perform once while I was at BYU and that was with "Engaged Dave who held my hand." (But that is a post for another day. Maybe my friend Kathleen remembers this story) So my experience watching them this time was much more fun. Anyone who brings pure joy to my little boy, is alright in my book.

Smell It

Magnolias in Highland Park were in bloom two weeks ago. We love to smell them!
Some day I will have a magnolia tree or two of my very own. Ryan promises.

Jack loves to ask us to smell things. He says, "Smwell it" to everything from his breakfast cereal to the dirt outside. I love it when he smells his dinner and says, "Mmmm, smells delicious."

Jack got a new backhoe and bulldozer for his birthday. They are true to life with stabilizers and moving boom an d buckets and blades. He loves them and uses them to move sand, dirt, cereal, blocks or whatever else he can think of to move around. He is much more willing to help clean up if I ask Jack to be a crane or an excavator and load the toys in their baskets.

Addy enjoying the warm weather with walking in the grass.