Pioneer Day

For Pioneer Day, our stake had a fun activity on Saturday morning. We went on a pioneer trail where we got to hear stories of pioneers that were related to members of our stake. I volunteered to help with some sewing for this part, so I was super excited to see my aprons in action.
Next we ate some breakfast and played some games. Shelby was really good at the bean bag toss game. She would carefully pick up the bean bag and then walk over and climb up onto the wooden frame. Then she would place the bean bag in the hole. Amazingly, she got all of her bean bags in the hole.
I think she liked the cow pie toss the most. Basically, there were cow pies everywhere and you could just throw them in the buckets. Of course Shelby preferred to walk them over to the bucket and throw them in. I wasn't sure that this game was teaching her something I wanted her to learn. I already have a hard enough time keeping dirt and rocks out of her mouth while we are outside.
I did feel that whoever made the cow pies did a really good job. I felt that they looked pretty authentic. I applaud the ingenuity and the use of spray foam insulation and spray paint. If you ever need fake poop - this is the way to go.

Shelby's BFF

This is Danny's cat. Shelby thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread. She is fascinated with this cat and follows it everywhere. Sometimes she doesn't quite understand that the cat isn't excited to have its tail pulled or its feet stomped on. It is a good thing that the cat has previously been tortured by Danny and is somewhat tolerant of such behavior.
Shelby got to play with Bengals the cat 2 days in a row while Kelly and Danny completed a yard project at Danny's house. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that I am quite allergic to the cat and Shelby is mildly allergic to the cat.
As much fun as it was to have the dripping nose and watery, swollen eyes - I think we will not be spending much time with the cat for awhile. I guess Danny will just have to come and play at our house - without the cat.

Ward Pool Party

Each year we have a ward pool party and this was the first year that we were able to attend. It was a lot of fun and we had a pretty good turnout. Shelby enjoyed the playground immensely and couldn't get enough of the slides.
Initially they told us that all the kids should wear a life jacket. Well, Shelby hated the life jacket and spent a good deal of time looking for a way out. She couldn't find one so we decided to just forego the life jacket and have some fun.
Shelby is an expert at kicking her legs in the water and she had lots of fun once she was freed from her straight (life) jacket. It was a fun night out with the ward and we are already excited to go again next year. We decided to stop and pick up some groceries on the way home and I ended up grocery shopping commando. Never wear your suit under your clothes - you are stuck without many options once you do. Next year I will just pack the suit. I guess you learn something new everyday Ü

Shelby's First Piggies

As if it didn't seem like she is already so grown up, she now can wear piggies and is uninterested in doing what her parents want to do!

Hogle Zoo

We recently paid a visit to Hogle Zoo. I didn't end up taking very many pictures because there wasn't much to take pictures of. Shelby loved all the monkeys and she would make her monkey sound every time she saw one. The monkeys were the first thing we saw and then it was pretty much downhill from there.
Shelby was mildly interested in the elephants, but they weren't doing much. I think we must have been there during nap time or something because all the animals were just laying around sleeping. We did get to watch a bird show which Kelly and I liked, but you couldn't eat snacks during the show and you had to sit in your seat, so Shelby didn't care for it.
We ended up having a picnic at This Is The Place park and that was nice. The zoo was super lame and I don't think we will be going back. I have recently been to several other zoos and Hogle Zoo came in last place for interest, but first place for cost. If you want to go to a good zoo - check out the Oklahoma City Zoo. You don't want to miss the wolf exhibit Ü

Water Fun!

Shelby loves to play in water. She has been spending a large amount of time in her swimming suit now that Dad is home. This year they have opened a splash pad at the park by our house which Shelby really enjoys. The first few times she didn't really want to get wet, but the water is quite cold so who can blame her. She is getting more brave and actually went in the fountains last time.
This is her first visit and Kelly and I were both wearing normal clothes. I was dry going home, but for some reason Kelly was soaked. The splash pad is great and we are lucky to live so close.
Also, Shelby has a little pool that she likes to play in. It is quite full when she has company, but the more the merrier is her motto. She likes to splash and throw balls around. Her favorite game involves throwing the balls out of the pool and seeing how many times you will go and get them for her. That game never gets old.
Once you have spent the day playing in the water, you need to relax and have a treat. We have started a weekly tradition of ice cream cones with Grandma and Grandpa. To say that Shelby likes ice cream would be like saying that the ocean is wet. She hoovers those ice cream cones and then helps everyone else eat theirs. The moral to the story is if you want your ice cream - you better eat fast.

Fun On The Fourth

We had a very fun day on the fourth. We used the morning and early afternoon to complete our family project of weeding the flowerbed. It took a long time because there were lots of weeds, but it looks great now and I am glad we finally got it done.
Next, we headed to a BBQ. Aunt Heather bought snaps for all the kids and Shelby loved them. She wasn't too into throwing them, but discovered that you could stomp on them and they would pop. She was really good at it and was stomping all over the place.
Later we had a private fireworks show and Shelby wasn't too sure about the fireworks. It was fun to do our own fireworks show. I am a huge fan of fireworks and used to put on a show every year. Ever since Kelly and I got married I haven't even bought a single firework until this year. I think it might be like people who have a gambling problem - it's generally best if they don't gamble at all. I thought we did well and only spent $40 on fireworks. The last time I did a show the bill came in at roughly $300, so I felt it was very responsible. Anyway, after that we went to watch the Lehi fireworks at Thanksgiving Point. Shelby had a great time. She really liked the fireworks and would clap and point each time they went off. However, I don't know what she liked more - the fireworks or getting to stay up way past her bedtime. All in all it was a fun day with lots of good fireworks Ü

18 Months Old

Shelby is 18 months old now and she is learning new words almost every day. She is so much fun and she loves to be a helper. She is really good at picking up rocks from flower beds and putting them in a bucket. In our yard, this could consume her whole summer but she does eventually want to do something else. She loves to play with balls and she really likes to tell us about stuff and have us understand what she is saying. She likes to tell you what she is seeing while she is in the car including: car, tractor, bird, cow, horse, and fish. I sometimes wonder about the fish references.
She has a mouth full of teeth and if you ask her so say cheese she will smile and show you those teeth. She does the funniest things and has a great fake laugh. She keeps Kelly and I entertained and on our toes. Her hair is getting long and she has started wearing barrettes. Although, after naptime her hair is not something we like to show off because it can be a little crazy. Just in the last few weeks her feet have finally started growing!

Current Stats

15 months height 30 1/2 inches 53rd percentile
18 months height 31 3/4 inches 54th percentile

15 months weight 20 lbs 11 oz 18th percentile
18 months weight 22 lbs 11 oz 26th percentile

15 months head circ 44.9 cm 25th percentile
18 months head circ 45.8 cm 26th percentile

This little girl is so much fun!

Kelly's Home!

Shelby and I wanted to do things up right for Kelly's return home. We had waited a very LONG year to have him back. We started inside and decorated with flags and balloons. Now Shelby loves balloons, but the car ride back from the party store with 4 dozen balloons in the car really wasn't her favorite thing. We were both feeling better once we got them inside the house. I hung up our hand crafted flags (one of the few projects I have completed lately) and our house was looking pretty festive.
Next, we had to work outside. We put up our flower garden flags and the flag signs that the youth group gave us. Plus Jill, the YW Pres from the youth group, came back and put up red, white, blue and yellow ribbons all over our trees, our house and our flagpole. Our house now looked good inside and out.
Shelby spent some time enjoying the live band at the air base. The flight kept getting delayed, so it was nice to have something to keep her busy. She walked around and explored and had a great time playing with all the kids. There were also plenty of people to tell her how cute she was, which she always enjoys.
These are the bikers that always send off and welcome home troops. These people are amazing and you can feel how truly grateful they are for the service the troops provide. They don't personally know the service members, but they donate their time and energy to provide them a safe and secure environment at all military gatherings.
Here is the plane driving towards the hangar and getting sprayed by the firetrucks. I got really emotional when the plane landed and had tears rolling down my cheeks. It seemed like it took forever for Kelly to get off the plane. It was so great to get to see him in person.
Our little family reunion at the air base. Shelby was not too sure about Kelly for the first few minutes, but she quickly put 2 and 2 together and didn't want to let him out of her sight. This included her not wanting to take naps or go to sleep for a few days. Once she realized that he would still be there when she woke up, she has gotten back to normal.
Here is the best picture - my 2 sweethearts at home with me. I am so grateful to my husband and all the service that he provides for our country and our freedom. I have worked hard to teach Shelby about the importance of our flag and our nation. I just hope that one day she will understand all that her Dad did for her. I am grateful that he is home safe and sound after spending a year in Iraq!

Yard Makeover

This is the best group of YM/YW ever!!!! These kids came to my house last Friday, along with their leaders and they whipped my yard into shape in about 2 hours. This is not everyone who helped, but it is most of them. They worked so hard and did so much.
All I did was provide my idea of the food pyramid. Notice how the base of the pyramid is made of brownies. I see nothing wrong with that idea. I did have some fruit and the cooler is full of water, so I figured we were covered for nutritional value.
Those kids weeded (and I had a lot of weeds), mowed, string trimmed, and planted tons of beautiful red, white and blue flowers. They also washed all my windows, even though I was nervous that they would fall off the ladder and hurt themselves, and scrubbed my patio set. They scraped and repainted the fence. They removed all the rough edges and extra concrete from my newly installed curbing. They kept Shelby entertained the whole time too!
They went above and beyond by buying me a new flag and restringing my flagpole. They also set me up with an ingenious clip system that is much better than our old system. We had a flag raising ceremony and all said the Pledge of Allegiance together before they left. I was truly touched. They were able to take a couple of our old flags and retire them later that night. It was such a neat day for me to feel so much kindness and generosity from people who I just met. I think every one of them thanked me for our military service, but I was blown away with what they did for me. I am so grateful for all their help and for the beautiful yard that Kelly will have to come home to now!

Nursery

Shelby has started going to nursery! She loves playing with toys and kids, so she really enjoys going. Initially, she had the best time, but then she got kicked out 1 week because I couldn't sit with her and had to go teach a lesson. She sat with me, while I taught, with a frown and kept pointing to the door because she wanted to go back to nursery. Last week Shelby was ornery during Sacrament meeting and was clingy in nursery so she didn't end up staying. I am really hoping that this week goes better. I would really like to have a few hours a week where I didn't have to chase her around. A girl can dream right?

Carnival Fun

Every year we have Pony Express Days in Eagle Mountain. They have a rodeo, a concert, a parade and a carnival - among other things. Now Kelly has never been in town for Pony Express Days since we have lived here. A couple times he has been able to participate in a day or two, but never for the whole week. This year was no exception. The great part is that the carnival is at the park that is only a couple blocks away from our house. Shelby and I decided to check it out.
I stuck some money in my pocket (for yummy deep fried food) and when we got there I realized that there were actually some things that Shelby could do. So, we headed back home to get the camera. It turned out to be a lot more exercise than I was planning on, but oh well. Shelby and I rode the Fun Slide 2 times. I wasn't sure if they would charge me 1 or 2 tickets to go down with her, so we ended up with an extra ticket.
Next, Shelby rode the boats. As you can see from the picture, she had a great time. Okay, she basically sat there and rode around in a circle and then got off. The guy could see she was a little nervous so he sent them around 1 time and she started to cry. I think she could see she was getting farther and farther away, but once she realized she was coming back she quit crying and was clapping by the time the loop was done. He stopped them and came over to tell me he would let us ride a different ride for free because he tore our ticket. I told him she would be fine and to start them up again. He didn't believe me, but did it anyway. She did wave at a number of strangers and had fun looking around at everything. She was super interested in the ride that was the equivalent of the Scrambler at Lagoon. I told her maybe next year she could ride it with Daddy because I didn't want to get thrown up on.

We had fun at the carnival despite the fact that there were no really good "fair food" vendors. Last year the food was good, this year not so much. Perhaps next year Kelly will be here, there will be lots of good food (I am hoping for funnel cakes), and Shelby can ride all the rides. Heres hoping Ü

The Longest Day Ever

Tuesday morning I was up and at 'em at 6 am (11 pm here). I got dressed and packed what I could while Shelby was still sleeping. I got her up and fed and bathed, then packed the rest of the stuff. I think we were supposed to be at the terminal at 7:30, but we may have been a few minutes late. It didn't seem to matter, but things at the Mildenhall terminal were very professional and businesslike compared to rinky dink and silly at the McConnell terminal. It was basically 8 old people and then Shelby and I. Karissa, Jack, and Elli stayed with us in the terminal until we had to go through security. My favorite part was that they had recorded announcements that could be played overhead and as soon as I went into the bathroom I heard the announement to not leave your baggage unattended. Real cute. Next, the kids were getting a little restless when they played the announcement about keeping your children under control. Well, we made the flight and were finally headed for the United States. I didn't take any pictures, but just imagine the same plane as the way over, but more people because we had a huge group of soldiers on board. Since we were flying from England to Spokane we were able to fly almost directly over the North Pole. It was neat to look out the window and see all the ice and glaciers floating around in the ocean. It was a long, long flight and we landed at Spokane International Airport because the runway at the base was under construction.

It was pouring rain and quite cold, but I was so glad to be on our way home. I was planning on just walking to the ticket counter and buying the next ticket home. It wasn't until we got loaded off the plane that they told us we had to go to the base and would not be allowed to go to the airport. We were in a 15 passenger van and every passenger except 2 wanted to go to the airport. The driver asked if she could drop us off at the terminal and was told no. Someone asked how far from the terminal we were and she said about 1/4 mile. They then decided that at the stop sign ahead the driver would stop and the passengers would jump out and walk back to the airport. If I hadn't had Shelby I would have done it, but I couldn't manage our 4 bags plus a stroller for the 1/4 mile hike on loose gravel. So now it was just one couple and us in the van. We were told that we could be dropped off at the front gate or at the terminal. The couple wanted to know which was closer to the base lodging because that is where they were headed. The lady decided she could give us the scenic route to the terminal and stop in the parking lot of the hotel. So, Shelby and I end up going to the terminal where there was supposed to be info about a shuttle to the airport (didn't we just take a shuttle from the airport??!). So the lady is helping me unload our stuff and she tries to give me my last bag - which wasn't my bag. One of the idiots that hiked in the rain left their bag in the van. At this point, the driver was pretty sure she was going to get fired for breaking all the rules, but she called the number on the bag and told the guy she would drop off his bag at the terminal. Now I was in a hurry to get back to the airport and didn't want to have to pay for a cab, so I just said "since you are going back to the airport can we ride along?" She agreed and we got dropped off at the curb. It worked out pretty well.

I walked up to the counter to find out that there was a flight leaving in about 20 minutes. I said okay and we were told to hustle or we wouldn't make it. Things were going well, until security. They had 1 security line and I forgot that I had put a can of Diet Coke and a water bottle in my bag. Of course, they had to search my bag. Then Shelby's jacket zipper set off the metal detector so we had to be searched. We were finally ready, but the guy was still going through my bag. He saw something weird and was looking for it. It ended up being Shelby's I Spy that was full of birdseed. Instead of quickly getting his job done, he was walking around showing the "cute toy" to all the employees. It took all that I had not to yell at him to hurry. So we made it to the gate and I realized I really needed to pee. It would have to wait. We sit down on the plane and Shelby starts crying. She is hungry and I also didn't think to get her something in the no time that we had. It was a long flight to Vegas, but we did survive. The Vegas airport offered bathrooms and food, so we both were feeling better after we took care of our issues. I just want to point out that I hadn't peed for about 13 hours!

We had a short layover in Vegas and Shelby was able to run around and get filthy from the disgusting floor. Then we boarded our final flight of the day to SLC. Thank goodness Shelby slept for this flight - she was exhausted. We landed and collected our bags and my parents met us out on the curb. Now we had met at the airport when we left so they had taken my car home with them. However, they decided that I shouldn't drive home since I had been awake for almost 24 hours (and they didn't even know that I would have driven on the wrong side of the street). We got to our house at about 9:45 pm and I bathed Shelby and put her to bed. I haven't been that tired in a long time. There is nothing like coming home after a long trip and sleeping in your own bed. I took a quick shower and climbed into bed and slept like the dead. I hope to never have a day of travel like that day ever again. Poor Shelby was such a trooper, but we made it home and were able to stay home and recover for several days thanks to my mom being so smart as to buy us some milk on the way to pick us up.

The Last Few Days

Well, our time in England was drawing to a close (at least I was hoping we could get a flight out of there sometime) and on Saturday we pretty much relaxed and made sure we had everything we needed to get home. Sunday we went to church and then I had a special assignment to fulfill. When Justin finally got the call that told him he was actually leaving, he had to be at work at like 2 am, so he drove to work and left the car there. Well, Karissa wanted the car at home because it got much better gas mileage than her car and would be easier to use for driving Jack to school everyday. That's where I come in. My assignment, should I choose to accept it, would be to drive Justin's car from the base to the house. I was excited that I would get to have the full English experience by driving on the "wrong" side of the road. The really weird part was that it didn't feel weird at all. That is how I knew it was time to come home. I had been riding in the passenger's (driver's) seat for 2 weeks, so maybe that is why the driving didn't feel wrong. I was worried that I might really have to concentrate on overriding my instincts to go right when I needed to go left, but it was not a problem. Had I known the driving would have been so simple, I would have been rolling film while driving - maybe that would have made it more exciting.

Monday, neither Karissa or myself felt like doing much, so we headed to the BX for dinner and had some Pizza Hut pizza. I also picked myself up a new purse while we were there. I had been eyeing it for several days and just decided to get it. Now that I don't have near the volume of stuff to carry around for Shelby, I can actually use a purse instead of a piece of luggage. It is quite nice. Dinner was great and everything went well, except for the fact that we unknowing let Jack drink caffeine for dinner in his orange soda. That proved to be a mistake that took several hours to wear off. I think he was still awake when I went to bed at 11:30!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Friday was my birthday so we did whatever I wanted to do. Lucky for the kids, I wanted to go to the Bob Hope Center. I think everyday we were there Elli would ask if we could go to Bob Hope. She made it sound so fun, so what better activity to do on my birthday? Well, the kids were in heaven. It was like a playplace on steroids. The kids were able to run and sweat and yell and scream and have a great time. Shelby really liked being able to play and watch all the kids running everywhere. After we were all worn out, we headed home for some Hamburger Rice Casserole - my birthday dinner request.
Dinner was great and we also polished off the plate of miniature cupcakes that Karissa made. They were super deluxe because they spelled out Happy Birthday Mel and they had lots of sprinkles. Plus, some had regular frosting and some had mint. Delicious. I think I ate the most simply because I would just eat them in 1 bite.

After dinner, we headed to the backyard for some confetti gun action. We all had some fun and we came back inside with confetti stuck all over us. It was a fun, yummy, sweaty, messy and crazy day. The best part of the day was when I called Kelly at 3 am his time because I thought he was already going to be awake, only to learn that he didn't have to get up for like an hour. Oops! It was great to be able to talk to him and he was much more forgiving about being woken up in the middle of the night than I would have been Ü All in all - a pretty fun birthday!

Our Next Adventure

After our crazy day going to London, we decided to just take a day off and rest. We definitely needed the time to recover. I really don't remember what we did on Wednesday, but it probably involved going either nowhere or to the commissary. Apparently, we ate a lot because we ended up going there quite frequently.

On Thursday, we decided to head to Lavenham and check out whatever they had to offer. We were better prepared with the DVD player for the ride and the kids had a great time. Shelby was so spoiled while we were there because she got to eat in the car and watch movies, both things her mean mom won't let her do.
We went through this little museum while we were there and learned all about the things they did there. There was a lot of stuff about trains, which Jack loved. Elli was less enthused about our time at the museum and pretty much didn't care about it.

I was pumped to learn that they had an entire room of the museum dedicated to yarn. They took it from start to finish, they raised the sheep, sheared them, and then made the yarn. There was a big see through container full of the sheeps wool that looked kind of like my hairbrush, but I have never turned that rat's nest into beautiful yarn before.

Also, Lavenham was home to the Taylors who wrote Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It was fun to hear about them and learn about the history of the poem/song. My sister and I were both expecting to find a cute book or something in the gift shop to buy. Not so. My English friends apparently haven't learned how to capitlize on their money making opportunities. No wonder we won the Revolution.

Here we are wandering the streets looking at their crazy construction. They framed these buildings with timber, though differently than we would here. This place is known for timber framing because it is not at all common over there. Of course, when you see how well this has held up, it is no wonder that most would choose something else.

It was interesting to look up and down the streets and see just how uneven everything was. Some walls leaned in, some out, some right and some left. It was a fun and quaint little town.

We stopped by a McDonalds on the way home and I had the best treat. The Cadbury Egg McFlurry - it was delicious. As previously mentioned, I wasn't too impressed by the food over there, but this was the exception to the rule. Cadbury chocolate is available year round over there, I guess that is where some people find solace in having nothing else to eat. If you ever have the chance to have one of these, you should. In England, everyday can be like Easter!

Obsess Much???

The English, much like most Europeans, sure do love their statues. There were statues everywhere. If there wasn't room on the street corner, you might see one attached to a building somehow. If there was a lot of room, you could find yourself amongst an army of statues. The statues range from historical figures, to English fancypants people, to downright weird. I remember seeing statues of Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and no less than 15 statues of Florence Nightingale. Of course, the English Royals are the subject of many a statue, but most are located closer to Buckingham Palace.
One of the fancy statues
Definitely weird - a random chunk of grass and a hand holding a car
The Fruit Snack Family - almost didn't snap the picture in time
Horse's Head - Justin wanted to know where the body was
Giant ship in a bottle - why not?
We were just driving down the street and I looked up to see a naked bum

For a city that is so short on parking, perhaps they should do away with some of the crap and make some parking spots.

Hotspots

On our tour, we were told that London isn't so much a city as it is "a bowl of urban spaghetti". This was just when I thought the English couldn't be any more weird. I guess if we spent the day in a bowl of spaghetti the following pictures would be the pieces of sausage in the sauce because that is the best part.London Bridge: I will just say that actually seeing the bridge, the song makes more sense.
The London Eye: It was super huge
Big Ben: A really big clock
Westminster Abby
The Original Hard Rock Cafe
The Ritz Hotel

One thing that really stood out to me was how much influence from England can be seen in our country. I saw a lot of things related particularly to the music industry. We drove past the Grand Trunk Railway and we also saw an homage to Jethro Tull. It is always interesting to see where you've come from in contrast with where you are. Sometimes they are just not that different.

Also, the English do suffer from some serious delusions. On the tour we were told about how the English invented electricity???? Interesting. If you are so fond of YOUR electricity, why don't you put it to use and have it operate the train gates rather than having a guy come out and pull a gate across the road 5 minutes before the train is supposed to come? Also, there was this:

I think not. Very little of the food over there is proper. The most depressing thing that I have done in a long time: wandering the aisles of Sainsbury (English grocery store) looking for something decent to buy. Basically went home empty handed. I just couldn't bring myself to buy "cookies" that were called Digestives. I don't know how they survive, or how they could ever be overweight.