Friends to Visit

Our friends from AZ came for a visit this week. Only Julie and the kids since Gordon can't play anyway Calvin stayed home to be responsible and earn a living. We've mostly been taking it easy and chatting while the kids play. Yesterday we made it on an excursion to Old Town and the Tricentennial Park that's near there. We explored the old church there and try as we might our kids weren't very reverent (and some were there to pray) so we didn't stay very long. It is a neat old church built in 1706 and it has the oldest active convent in the nation. We stopped at a candy store and bought some hand dipped chocolates.

Here the kids are outside the candy store



We wandered around and did alot of window shopping and made our way over to the Rattlesnake Museum. We waited for a while, but the curator never arrived to open so we didn't end up going in. So we gave up and went to play at the Tricentennial Park. The park has a really big fun playground that's set up in a circle around a time-capsule that won't be opened until 2096.





We had to rush home to be in time for our dental appointment. Then in the evening we went and played at the Quintessence Park.





Here's a beautiful portrait taken by Lily


Today we're set to do some more fun!

It Went Great!

The office was really fun. There were lots of toys to play with, Including a stuffed giraffe taller than Abigail that she loved to hug. The Bee Movie was playing in the waiting room and Chicken Little was playing in our examination room. I'm especially grateful that there were more movies and toys in the exam since I always had two siblings waiting in there while one was being worked on.
Our hygienist was fabulous. She did Lily first, who has a strange love for dentists and is a model patient while her mouth was cleaned. Next was Eve's turn, who still wasn't convinced she wanted to open her mouth. So she sat on my lap and the hygienist took alot of time to show her all of her tools and what they were for. She let Eve hold the sucker straw and told her when to use it. Eve was excited to cooperate and really good after the tools lesson. Abigail didn't want to cooperate either, so the hygienist showed all of her tools to Abigail, letting her handle each one. Abigail loved, loved, loved, the sucker straw. She played with it and occasionally would open her mouth and the hygienist would sneak in cleaning a tooth. She was happy the whole time. The dentist came in to "count teeth" and gave the girls high fives for NO CAVITIES!! Eve was reluctant to let the dentist have a look, but she got through it okay. Both Lily and Abigail were very cooperative for the dentist. Lily got sealants for her molars, but I am so happy for no more dental work needed for six months!

Wish me luck

Today I am taking all three girls to the dentist. Eve and Abigail have never been so this should be interesting. I've been trying to prep Eve having her open wide and hold it open so the dentist can clean her teeth. I'm not sure what they'll do with Abigail, but they said they'll see children as young as one, so I made her an appointment too. They are all excited to get new toothbrushes and flossers, so I know that part will be easy. I'm just hoping they are all in good moods and cooperative.

Mommy-Daughter Date

I needed to run some errands this afternoon and I ended up taking just Eve with me. It's not very often that I have one of my children at a time, so I hoped to make it fun for us. First we went to Discount Tire because we were due for a rotation, and one of the tires had a leak. They told us it was going to be an hour and a half wait. I said okay and Eve and I went outside.

It was a pleasant day with some cool wind and mist blowing down from the mountain. So we started on a walk. Discount Tire is right next to the arroyo(drainage canal) here and that means a walking path. After only five minutes of walking we happened upon a little park! This was a surprise treat for us both. We did a little swinging, then climbed on the play structure riding a "boat" and taking turns "fixing" it when it was broken. After a while the mist turned into rain and we had to head back to the store, so we used the time to call some family. Eve got to choose who and after a couple tries we found someone at home to talk to. Eve was able to chat with Aunt Angela, and though she might not have understood, Eve told her all about her umbrella and how it was blowing in the wind.

After that errand was done we headed for Costco to pick up some produce and milk. We also needed to get a treat of some sort. Lily goes on "Daddy-Daughter Dates" and also seems to come home with a treat, so Eve knew this was part of the tradition. I'm on a little of a health kick right now so for our treat we got drinks from the vending machines. Eve chose Orange juice and was just thrilled to have it.

After two more stops we headed home and I think we both had fun on our date. What a fun rare thing it is to be able to have so much one on one time with Eve. She is such an energetic, loving girl. I'm so happy to have her in our family. I love Eve.

Jam!

If I had my camera I would have a great picture for you today. Instead I will have to describe it for you. It was after dinner and I was reading stories to the girls before bed. Abigail got bored and wondered off. I finished the books and shooed Lily and Eve off to finish getting ready for bed and went to find Abigail.

She was at the table, that hadn't yet been cleared with the jam jar. She looked at me and smiled really big and said "Jam!" She had been eating it with her hands so it was up to her elbows, all over her face, in her hair and smeared across her chest. The messy girl was taken straight to the bathroom.

Time will tell if I've learned my lesson about clearing the table quickly after dinner...

Silly Faces

We're waiting for the parade to start.

Water fun

Playing with cousins at the zoo

After the family reunion, Gordon went off with the boys to go back-packing. So I went down to spend time with my sisters and Mom in Utah. The first day we worked on cleaning Amber's house that she had just moved from. The second day we started our fun and went to the zoo.







My Dare-Devils




We were there in time for an elephant encounter. It was really neat to watch them show off all of her tricks. They said they train them so their healthcare is easier to do.


Here's the cute penguins


The giraffes


And the tigers, watch out, they're dangerous!

Family Reunion

Our first stop on our trip was in Idaho with Gordon's family. For our activities we did a jog down memory lane. We went up to Sugar City, ID, where no one lives any longer and played. We had lunch and dinner at restaurants that Gordon's family loved and played in a park near their former home. Then we walked around the town running into a few old friends and listening to alot of "remember when...?"

Here are some pictures of the park, the kids spent hours on the Merry-go-round.





We took some new family pictures too, but I haven't been e-mailed copies yet. (hint, hint)

Some Fabulous News!

Gordon passed his test!!! He got the results while we were on vacation, so there was some extra pressure as the whole family watched him check the website. Once Gordon saw his good new he shared it immediately with a success yell and we celebrated with ice cream. Since this was his seventh test Gordon is now qualified to become an associate. This is a big deal in the actuarial world. He will now be able to give qualified opinions and he get letters after his name. We will be traveling to Seattle to accept his honors. I'm excited for that.

P.S. (For those of you who don't live with an Actuary) Gordon is a college graduate with a degree in Actuarial Science. Actuaries take a series of exams after college to become fully certified. Each test takes approximately 500 hours of study time to prepare for them. It takes the average Actuary 7 1/2 years to finish the exams.

We are home

We did make it home safe and sound from our family reunions. But I left our camera at my sister's house, so....I'll post the report once I have some pictures to go along with it.