July 28, 2010
Delicious pie
Yesterday Elsie decided she wanted to make some "delicious pie with milk, butter and peas". I went along with it. I let her get the small sauce pan out and put some peas and water (she wanted milk) in it. She added some butter and then thought she needed nuts, corn, slat and pepper. We had it on the the heat and warmed it a bit and then she ate some...not that much. I regret this already as today when she thought of it she needed her pan (which she called a dish) and needed to make something!!! She got as far as getting the corn and adding water and I ended it. I know it is good to explore but I need my space to do things too...not to mention a clean kitchen.
Growing food
I would love to say that I have a huge garden and that I will not need to go to any farmers markets this fall because I have all the food I can eat here in my back yard. But sadly I can not say that. I come from a family who always had a big garden. But I have yet to have a big garden of my own. In our first house in Kansas I tried to have a few plants in a small area but there was too much shade and the soil had a lot of clay in it. So that failed...the squash and cucumber plants died and the tomatoes never ripened.
This year we are in a new house with lots of sun in the back yard so I wanted to do something. The people before us had the backyard landscaped and so it looks really nice. We have a hill in our backyard and so they made different levels with rock retaining walls. There are several flower beds on the steep part of the hill. We were a little worried about destroying the grass and making the yard look messy so we decided to just plant a few things in the flower beds. They took a while to get stared but things are looking pretty good now. I have eaten two or three cherry tomatoes, and the sun flowers look great. The cucumber looks ok but might not produce and the carrots are doing fine. It is fun to finally have something work out for a change...maybe my thumb is green after all.
On a side note I planted sunflowers last year too but we moved before they matured. I am really enjoying these this year. I planted them because my sister Maude used to plant them every year. Every time I look at them it make me think of her. She will be gone now for two years this fall.
This year we are in a new house with lots of sun in the back yard so I wanted to do something. The people before us had the backyard landscaped and so it looks really nice. We have a hill in our backyard and so they made different levels with rock retaining walls. There are several flower beds on the steep part of the hill. We were a little worried about destroying the grass and making the yard look messy so we decided to just plant a few things in the flower beds. They took a while to get stared but things are looking pretty good now. I have eaten two or three cherry tomatoes, and the sun flowers look great. The cucumber looks ok but might not produce and the carrots are doing fine. It is fun to finally have something work out for a change...maybe my thumb is green after all.
On a side note I planted sunflowers last year too but we moved before they matured. I am really enjoying these this year. I planted them because my sister Maude used to plant them every year. Every time I look at them it make me think of her. She will be gone now for two years this fall.
Golf
Will made a golf club for Elsie a few weeks ago. He took her to the driving range and by some miracle she did not get hit by anyone! I guess she had a great time but mostly stacked and arranged the buckets that the balls come in. Here she is with her club on our front lawn.
The Shumway family reunion
Last week was the Shumway family reunion. This was Elsie's first reunion and she had a blast. The events started Wednesday evening at Will's parents house. Larry cooked burgers and hot dogs and we all brought food to share. On Thursday was a lunch and then a marshmallow and weenie roast up in the canyon that night. Friday was a breakfast and then hanging out most of the day until the devotional and talent show in the evening. There was plenty of food to eat at all the events and lots of fun company. It was especially fun because there are several other great grandkids that are Elsie's age. So she did a lot of playing with them and even a little with the older kids too.
July 27, 2010
8 years!!!
It has happened another year has passed and Will and I have celebrated one more year of marriage. From my point of view we have a perfect marriage. Will is considerate, funny and loving. He does every thing to make me happy and I try to do the same for him. We work together as a team and we both love being parents of our beautiful little girl. Thanks for another great year Will.
Don't you just love the flowers Will got me? There are eight, they are just bunch together funny.
Don't you just love the flowers Will got me? There are eight, they are just bunch together funny.
James Taylor
Will bought us tickets to go see James Taylor and Carole King in concert. He got them for our anniversary which was only a few days after the concert. It turns out Will had to be gone for work that night and so Will's little sister Julia came with me instead. We had amazing seats and the concert was wonderful! James Taylor played all my favorite songs and then some and Carole King was pretty good too. I was only sad that Will could not be there with me!
Swimming
Elsie was old enough to take swimming lessons all by herself this year. No more mommy and me classes for us! It is sad but exciting at the same time. When I talked to her about them before we went to the first class she sounded excited. But then she started asking if I would go in with her. I had to say no but I would take her to her teacher. The first day came and she was a little hesitant to take the teachers hand and walk away but she did it. And she loved it!!! I was a little scared when the teacher took the 5 students on a "field trip" to the deep end of the pool. They all grabbed onto him...one on his neck and two on each arm and he dragged then to the deeper part of the pool where none of them could touch. He did this so they could practice jumping into his arms and getting in and out by a ladder. But come on what if one of then had let go while he was taking them there??? Well this went on for eight days and nothing bad ever happened.
They played lots of games like blowing up a bollon, aligator aligator, sharks in a basket and ring around the rosies where they all go underwater at the end. Each game helped them work of different skills. Like going under water or doing arm scoops.
Some where along the line she asked for goggles since several of her classmates had them. We were in the store and she saw them so we got a cheat pair to begin with...in the end we got a nicer pair as the cheap pair was not comfortable. But she never would let me tighten them that much so water always got into them.
On the last day of swimming lessons they turned on the big water slide. For the last five or ten minutes of class most of the kids took turns going down the slide. Of course Elsie's teacher who has no fear of the water brought all four kids that where there that day up the four flights of stairs to the top. He went down first with one of the kids on his lap. He had instructed the kids to take turns going down by themselves after him. I could not believe it but Elsie did it!! She came down the slide and her teacher caught her. But she did not go down by herself again. They went down two or so more times this time on her teachers lap. When she was all done I asked her what it was like. She said it was scary and that when she went down by herself she turned around and came out on her belly. When I just asked her what happened this is what she said "Its just a big huge slide. I got on my bum and when I came out I got on my belly. I came into my teachers arms." By the way Elsie has gone down several slides like this one before but always on our lap!!
Another fun event was when her teacher took her to the diving board. She describes it like this "I got on the diving board and when I got to the other side I got scared and someone came and helped me. That's what I did on the diving board." It was very cute she got all the way out to the edge and then sat down. She was too scared to jump into her teachers arms so another teacher came and dropped her in the pool. She never did that again either.
Over all the lessons where great. Elsie loved them. She can not swim but I did not expect her to be able to. She is more familiar with water and if she is in the mood you can get her to show off some of her new moves.
They played lots of games like blowing up a bollon, aligator aligator, sharks in a basket and ring around the rosies where they all go underwater at the end. Each game helped them work of different skills. Like going under water or doing arm scoops.
Some where along the line she asked for goggles since several of her classmates had them. We were in the store and she saw them so we got a cheat pair to begin with...in the end we got a nicer pair as the cheap pair was not comfortable. But she never would let me tighten them that much so water always got into them.
On the last day of swimming lessons they turned on the big water slide. For the last five or ten minutes of class most of the kids took turns going down the slide. Of course Elsie's teacher who has no fear of the water brought all four kids that where there that day up the four flights of stairs to the top. He went down first with one of the kids on his lap. He had instructed the kids to take turns going down by themselves after him. I could not believe it but Elsie did it!! She came down the slide and her teacher caught her. But she did not go down by herself again. They went down two or so more times this time on her teachers lap. When she was all done I asked her what it was like. She said it was scary and that when she went down by herself she turned around and came out on her belly. When I just asked her what happened this is what she said "Its just a big huge slide. I got on my bum and when I came out I got on my belly. I came into my teachers arms." By the way Elsie has gone down several slides like this one before but always on our lap!!
Another fun event was when her teacher took her to the diving board. She describes it like this "I got on the diving board and when I got to the other side I got scared and someone came and helped me. That's what I did on the diving board." It was very cute she got all the way out to the edge and then sat down. She was too scared to jump into her teachers arms so another teacher came and dropped her in the pool. She never did that again either.
Over all the lessons where great. Elsie loved them. She can not swim but I did not expect her to be able to. She is more familiar with water and if she is in the mood you can get her to show off some of her new moves.
A new addition
Well we have had a new addition to our family. No there are no new people or animals. Will bought a new car!! He got is when I was on my vacation back east. It had been a family debate for a while and Will won (which never happens). It is a Lexus SC 430, translation: a convertible. Will loves it!! He dives it up the canyon every day and tries to convince Elsie to ride in it all the time. Yes it does have a back seat thought it is a tight fit! Elsie does not like to go on the interstate with the top down as the wind gets really strong back there. But other then that she likes it and I guess I like it too.
July 12, 2010
Happy fathers day daddy
Well we are also a bit late on this one but we had a great fathers day. It was a Sunday of course and we had spent the night at Will's dad's house. So we had to get up and get ready to head home for church. But we let daddy sleep in as long as we could. Then Elsie put on the shirt we made him and wore it to show it to him. He likes it a lot...not enough to wear out of the house but enough to wear as a night shirt. It has Elsie's hand prints all over the front and says "Best dad hands down but..." and then it has her foot prints all over the back and says "...I walk all over him". This cute idea came from my sister.
After church we came home to do the treasure hunt. Elsie had hid the two presents we got him and then I wrote clues for him so he would get to the presents and have a little fun in the process. It was fun to watch him think about the questions then all the sudden get it and head off to find the next clue. Elsie helped find and unwrap the presents. We got him some stuff to clean his new car (photos to follow). After that we just relaxed as a family. I made him waffles for dinner, a family favorite. It was a fun day...we love you dad!
After church we came home to do the treasure hunt. Elsie had hid the two presents we got him and then I wrote clues for him so he would get to the presents and have a little fun in the process. It was fun to watch him think about the questions then all the sudden get it and head off to find the next clue. Elsie helped find and unwrap the presents. We got him some stuff to clean his new car (photos to follow). After that we just relaxed as a family. I made him waffles for dinner, a family favorite. It was a fun day...we love you dad!
The farm
We went to a local farm. It is free for people to come look at the animals, tractors and other such farm stuff. They charge a little for a hay ride but we did not do that any way. We went with some friends and saw some others there too...fun times!
We had to say good bye
Well it has happened again one of our good friends had to move! It is sad but we are happy for them. Jocelyn was a bit younger then Elsie but Elsie loved to play with her and boss her around! I watched her once a week so her mother could work at a local school so we got to know her pretty well. Here are a few pictures to show you what a cute kid we are missing.
bowling
A few weeks back we went with some friends to a fun arcade like place. It was more then an arcade it had bumper cars, bowling, mini folf and go carts plus a lot of arcade games and food. So we ate first then went bowling. It was perfect because it was designed for little kids with small balls and gard rails on the lanes to keep the ball out of the gutter!!! So Elsie has been asking to go back ever since.
Antelope Island
Will took a few days off when we first got home from our long trip. It was great to spend the extra much needed time with daddy. Elsie had really started to miss him by the end of our trip. But since Elsie's grandmothers also missed her we got to go on two dates in a row!!! The first day we went to Antelope Island. It was very pretty. We even got out of the car and did a 20 minute hike up a hill and got a better view plus a little exercise as an added bonus. The photos are from the island. The next day we went to a botanical garden down town and enjoyed the beautiful flowers and peaceful setting.
July 11, 2010
Elsie was so lucky to come home to some mail from our great friends! They had sent her some birthday surprises. Thanks again for the fun gifts.
Alora's graduation
Well one of the main points for going out to Vermont at this time was to see Alora's last dance recital and her and Briseis's graduate from hight school. So here are a bunch of pictures from the party after Alora's graduation...Briseis was there but she had graduated the previous day in New Hampshire. Again almost all the cousins were there so there was lots of fun to be had!
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