uta trains by ava

the trains go pretty fast here!!!they are very fun!!!!! we love them.

PS

Gilbert Moms are the best. I miss ALL of them!

Layla in motion

Layla (who will be 5 months next week) rolled from her back to tummy today. I thought it was a fluke. so I put her back on her back and she proceeded to do it about 5 more times. Then when I sat Mark, Ava and Mia down to see her, she just grabbed her toes and giggled. She did prove it to them later on.



She's growing too fast. I thought 3 would be enough for me, but now that she is sleeping all night, maybe a fourth will be an option (not in the near future, I have some weight to lose still). What is the magic number for you?

Seeing my friends on $4 per gallon!

This is one of my oldest "married" friends, Leslie Jenson, and her third girl, Layne. (We planned to have 3 girls all at the same times) We went swimming last Friday at Veterans Memorial Pool in Provo. They built a really cool children's splash area but the highlight was being able to take Ava down the tower water slide. I have never been to a pool that lets you do this, but since people in Provo seem to have 6 kids under the age of 4, they have to bend rules a little.
Leslie's sister in law, Shera Payne, was there with her four kids too. I was her oldest daughter's (now age 8) nursery teacher in the good old Grandview 2nd Ward. She didn't remember me! What, I had to sing every song and fingerplay known to man to get her settle down and she doesn't remember that effort!

The girls and I in the UT sun. Mia got sunburned waiting in line to pay to get in. Gotta love it!
I guess Utah public pools had big problems with people getting sick from contaminated water so they basically want us all to wear swim diapers in the pool. They have safety checks every two hours where the pools are cleared. It was a great idea, but I was sooooo nervous about letting Layla even get one toe wet!


On Monday night, we drove to Heber to see Mary and Scott Porter and her family at the Porter's cabin. It turns out that Mark's Grandma and Grandpa Merrill used to own the cabin two doors down. We had fun seeing the Porter boys, Dallin, Ben & Isaac.

Mary's brother-in law is the cousin of one of my chemistry buddies, Diana Smith. We remembered each other after talking it over. See when you are a chem major, your classes are a little low on cool people and all the chemical fumes make you a little batty. I got this idea that it would be cool to know a random phrase in as many languages as possible. So I learned to say, "I love naked sheep" in about 15 languages. This was the one thing he remembered and I about fell off my chair. The BYU days really were fun.

My parents are in town and have taken the two older girls two days in a row!! (Hence the long post!)

Gilbert Moms vs. Salt Lake Moms

Though we are living in the shadow of the Salt Lake temple, this area is dominated by what I call the "Millcreek Mom." After careful observation at the tennis court, library, Gateway mall and other places, I have come up with a good description of what makes a "Millcreek Mom" and how they compare to the moms of Gilbert, AZ.

Gilbert Mom:
Wears Roxy clothing, but has never touched a surfboard
Millcreek Mom:
Wears rock-climbing clothes (Columbia, Patagonia, REI, etc.), has never touched a rock-face

Gilbert Mom:
Carries an expensive satchel as a diaper bag
Millcreek Mom:
Names child "Satchel"

GM:
Buys $40 nursing apron so she can look great in mothers' lounge at church for 5 minutes
MM:
Is 40 and nursing 5 year-old

GM:
Has a little bulge around belly button from having 4 babies in 4 years
MM:
Has two bulges on either side of belly button from not having worn bra in 4 years

GM:
Has never met a lesbian
MM:
Used to be a lesbian

GM:
Buys expensive Swarovski crystal-encrusted barrettes for child's hair
MM:
Never brushes child's hair

GM:
Drives Suburban like a bat out of hell
MM:
Thinks people that don't drive Volvos are going to hell (ie Mormon women)

GM:
Carries water bottles to combat summer heat
MM:
Packs around coffee in special thermos to maintain heat

Ava in the digital age!

I let Ava post to my blog so I could stop her from sending text messages to Mark. A 'marr[y]ing' girl is a bride. We have a perfect view of the Salt Lake Temple grounds, and this being June, the brides are out in full force. The style now is to wear cream-colored dresses with sashes or other accessories in mauve, or brown colors. I even saw a girl wearing a black feathery headress type get-up.

We are in Meridian, ID this weekend with Mark's sister, Heidi. (We are sorry to have missed you, Rose!) We are enjoying Heidi and Greg's gorgeous new home between chasing the cows through the pasture and driving Uncle Greg's tractor.

On our drive here, we took a detour through Sun Valley, ID. This was the coolest place. Very quaint, a lot like Heber, UT.

We are having a fun Father's Day. I stamped the girls' handprints (and Layla's footprint) onto a tie for him to wear every Father's Day and we got him a Blackberry Pearl. Tonight we are enjoying fresh crab from their recent Alaska trip then we will go back to Salt Lake tomorrow!

marring girls and tennis lessons by ava

me and mia love to look for marring girls if we find some we shout marring girl!! also we started tennis lessons we are so good.