Back to Your Poorly Scheduled Programming

I hope you enjoyed how I left you all hanging there. The Cincinnati Summer of Silence. Well, prepare your eardrums (or eyedrums, I guess), for the explosion of sound. In pictures. That fell apart quickly, didn't it?

First, how we got to Ohio: in a sexy new minivan. I'll have to take a picture later, but I really like our van. It's got tons of bells and whistles, and features that I honestly don't know how to use yet. P&G gave us a nice chunk of money to relocate with, and we opted to spend it on the van for various reasons. It was pretty tough to cram everything we thought we'd need into the back (even with the nifty fold-into-the-floor seats), but we managed it for the most part. Choosing to drive instead of fly also allowed us to make it into a vacation roadtrip. We stopped first in Denver to visit my brother and his family, which is always a treat. Glenn and Julie really know how to make you feel welcome, and the girls love spending time with their cousins. (These Denver pictures are from the trip back, but since it was mostly a monotonous charge back to Utah, I don't plan to post about it.)

 Julie decided two birthday celebrations weren't enough for Abby, so she got a third in Denver.

 Evie and Adam had a great time drinking the leftover syrup they'd dumped on their pancakes.

What cuties!

After Denver came Kansas City, Missouri. Driving through the Midwest may not be the most thrilling adventure ever, but the scenery was very pretty. We had a fun time in Kansas City, with our first summer dose of fountains:

We also toured the Hallmark visitor's center and participated in an art session at Kaleidoscope, which I highly recommend if you're ever in the area. Lots of fun for us all, and free.

We were also able to walk around the brand new Kansas City temple, but were unfortunately one day too early to attend the dedication.

From Kansas City we went to Independence, MO, to visit the our church's temple lot, visitor's center, and the Liberty Jail, where the prophet Joseph Smith was imprisoned in terrible conditions. I'm not sure how much the girls understood, but it was a neat experience. I made a massive church history tour the summer before I started college, so most of the sites weren't new to me. It's different seeing them with kids, though, and Regis has wanted to see them for a long time.

Our tour of Nauvoo, Illinois, however, probably dampened his interest. It started well enough. We had a nice place to stay, and there is a lot to see and do in Nauvoo. We were a little early in the season for some of the entertainments, but we liked seeing the temple, taking a wagon ride, and walking through all the historic buildings and listening to the tour guides.

 The trouble really started at the Pioneer Pastimes pavilion, when Regis got competitive. First he tried to show me up on stilts, then the hoop roll, then graces.

 He really got his comeuppance in the stick pull, though. This ill-fated picture was taken just before we started, when Regis instantly collapsed backwards, writhing in the bark. Clearly he is no match for my muscular prowess. Unfortunately, he had tweaked his back so badly that he was unable to move without pain, and therefore spent the rest of our time in Nauvoo full of ibuprofen and sitting in the van.

His injury was especially inconvenient the next day, when he was still too sore to carry things up to our apartment in Cincinnati--on the third floor. Guess who got to unpack the car?

Crystal Blue Goes Cincinnati Red

We celebrated Mother's Day in our new ward in today. We are hanging out in Cincinnati this summer, because Regis has an internship with Procter & Gamble. Living in Ohio is a very new experience for me. I've never lived in the midwest; I spent all my youth in California and left only to go to Utah for college, where I've lived ever since.

My impressions so far have been mostly positive. I love how green it is here. We've met some friendly people, especially at church. The only effect of the humidity I've noticed is positive: my knuckles aren't cracking like they do in Utah. (We'll see how I like it in August.) My only real gripe so far is that TONS of people smoke here. It's gross.

Our apartment here is fairly nice for a short-term rental. It's on the top floor, so we don't have to worry about people above us making noise -- just the people below us blowing smoke into our windows. I'm very glad we decided to rent furniture. It makes it much more homey to have a table and actual beds and a couch, especially since the couch is better than the one we own in our Orem apartment. There are sliding glass doors out to a wood balcony, which the girls absolutely love. I live in constant fear that Evie will slip through the railing, but she loves running out there to eat popsicles, especially if she can do it in the nude. There is an extra room (which the management refers to as a "den") that the girls are using as a playroom. I'm seriously reconsidering my previous assertion that we don't need a 3-room apartment until Regis graduates. Again, there's one real downside: the kitchen is teeny. Since I probably spend 30% of my waking hours in the kitchen when I'm home, it's a problem, but hopefully we can handle it for the summer.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

6/23/2010
 

11/8/2010
 

3/8/2012

Keepin' It Clean

Dear Brook,
Little girls need aprons too. Cute ones.
Love,
Crystal

Craftier Than Thou

Once upon a time, I had a blog. It went to visit its grandmother one day, carrying a basket of cookies. I haven't seen it since.

Here's what I've been up to in the past, say, three months.
Hand-knitted socks for Regis. He loves them.

My charming brother and sister-in-law. Please admire the bustle. We had a blast making it. I'm tempted to make another for myself for everyday wear.

The wreath craze has clearly hit me hard. But admit it: they're darling.

This last is not finished. It will eventually be a coat hanger for the girls, with posts where the birds' feet would be. But I'm awfully proud of those fat little birds.

There's more, of course. But I don't want to make you feel TOO inadequate.

We're Special

This is our friendly way of saying, "We've had Hand Foot and Mouth Disease! Aren't we lucky?"


And this is my happy way of saying, "This is how a whole week with quarantined children makes me feel."

Gastronomy

You know how some people like olives with pimientos in them? Or jalapenos? Or even little onions?

This is what my girls like:




Those, for the uninitiated, are raspberries--with capers stuffed in them. It's a new culinary sensation.

Summer 2011

Yes, I know summer isn't technically over until later this month, but I can smell fall in the air. We've had a very fun summer and I'm sad to see it go. It was also very eventful: Evie lost part of her tooth and gained a scar on her forehead, I lost most of my hair in a drastic new cut, Regis started business school, and Abby has started joy school and grown like a weed. This fall promises to be busy, and probably stressful, as Regis comes to grips with his future and I come to grips with a student budget. Overall, though, it's getting better and better all the time.

Snuggle Bugs

My baby, who is now 2 years old, fell asleep on my shoulder as I rocked her today. I LOVE it when that happens, in large part because it's such a novelty. She has never been much of one for snuggling, so I try to make the most of it when she does. Evie is such an adventurous little thing. She's chipped her front tooth twice (the same tooth!), had a heavy chair fall on her face, toppled off the back of the rocking chair, and all before her second birthday. But I admire her strong will and determination, even though it frustrates me frequently. It's a constant struggle to teach and discipline her, putting her in the right path without breaking her spirit. Does it sound to anyone else like she's a teenager already? Maybe that's why my own mom used to pull teenage me onto her lap, when I felt like I must be squashing her. I guess I'll never grow out of wanting my baby on my lap.

Short Cuts

I was in Salt Lake City the other day and took a short cut that I wasn't familiar with. This is the result.





Choppity chop! This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I am having SO MUCH FUN with it. I drove up to Salt Lake to put myself in the hands of my cousin Ashley. We had a great time, and I'm just delighted with the result. I don't know how long I'll keep it (tee hee) this short.

Double Trouble

My car is now the proud repository of two coordinating pink carseats. Evie has graduated to a forward-facing seat in anticipation of several long car trips this summer. Regis hopes (I fear vainly) that facing forward will make her a pleasanter travelling companion. We shall see.

What Is This?

Anyone know what this is?



Let's hear some guesses.



It is, in fact, the baby wipe with which I wiped Evie's face.



Why is it so colorful? What was she eating?



Skittles?



M&M's?



Gobstoppers?



No. Magic Marker. Yes folks, she was sticking capless markers into her mouth and sucking on them. I found her with the brown. How many other colors do you see there?



Kids are SO gross.

Trip to Texas

In my continuing quest to escape the cold frozen wastes of Utah, we went to visit my sister and her family in Texas last month. Before we left, Amber warned us that the forecast was for "cold" weather--maybe even down to 40 degrees! We quivered in fear. Thankfully, the weather was extremely pleasant the whole time we were there, to me anyway. :) We took advantage of it and played at the beach in Galveston. Since it was the off season, the beach was nearly deserted, but still plenty warm enough for us all to enjoy ourselves.



We also visited the San Jacinto Monument, and the Battleship Texas.


One of my favorite parts was visiting the police horses to feed them carrots, apples, and peppermints. There was even a horse named Abby! I haven't spent a lot of time around horses, and I was surprised at how much personality they have.


My perception may have been skewed because I was sick, but I was disappointed in the Houston rodeo. The smaller rodeos I've been to here are more fun. I wish we'd arrived earlier and had more time at the livestock show before the event, but none of us were thrilled by the Clay Walker concert, which is what really filled the rodeo arena.

We also made it to the Houston Zoo, which is enormous. I really liked the interactive exhibits, like these drums, and we all had a good laugh about the "Feed the Giraffes" opportunity: I think it was $5 for 3 pieces of lettuce.
All the excursions while we were in Texas were lots of fun, but a lot of the time we just spent relaxing at Amber and Steven's house while the girls played together. Abby and Olivia liked playing together, anyway. It will be a few months yet before Evie and Carmen are ready to enjoy each other's company. It was a really great trip, and I'm glad we got to hang out with Amber and Steven again. I'd say Texas and the Houston area in particular are definitely on our list of places we could enjoy living in.

Dropping the Ball, or Goodbye 2010

I think I'm obligated to write a wrap-up post, now that 2010 has ended. This year has brought a lot of changes, of course, but nothing especially drastic.


Evie has learned to crawl and then to walk. She is very strong-minded and determined, which I often find incredibly frustrating. My mother says this is because she's so much like me. She loves reading books, pulling the lids off markers, pouring liquid from one container to another, and taking baths. She loves to touch snow, but not to play in it. She always wants to learn how to do things herself. Evie and Abby are very fond of each other and can often be found jumping on Abby's bed together or cooperating in spreading their toys all over their room.


Abby has really enjoyed her dance class this year, and so have I. Less comprehensible to me has been her sudden love of all things princess-y. She now declines to wear pants any day of the week, insisting on dresses and skirts. I sometimes have to battle her to put on socks, tights, or leggings underneath, even when it is freezing cold outside. She loves to dance around the living room to "princess music" (we have divergent opinions on what that means) and has a very funny expression that she considers her "princess face." Abby was delighted to gain a new aunt this year when my younger brother married, and we have all enjoyed having Court and Lisa over.

I really got into knitting last year, finishing a sweater vest, three pairs of socks, a hand-holding mitten set, and various other small projects. I also, at the very close of the year, was introduced to spinning yarn on a spindle, and I'm looking forward to developing that skill this year. My other accomplishments included running a 5K, embracing the wave in my hair, lighting my first fireworks, and doing a ridiculous amount of reorganizing.


Regis has worked a lot this year. He has been promoted twice (He wouldn't call it that, but that's what it is.) and is learning a lot about managing employees, and business in general. He has enjoyed our vacations to Logan, California, Denver, and other places, and hopes the new year will hold more fun trips.

Here's to 2010.

Christmas 2010

Oh hey, look, it's a new year! So let me tell you about Christmas. It was definitely a good Christmas. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa, and were delighted to see Regis' brother's family who have been in Ecuador. We all got some great loot and had tons of fun playing a dance game on the Wii. (In case you're curious, I rocked everybody's socks. Multiple times.)



As you can see, Abby enjoyed her visit with Santa (although I was disgusted when he asked her if she wanted a Barbie for Christmas. Yes, I know, she's ubiquitous, but that's all the more reason to branch out, Santa. Abby doesn't even know who Barbie is, frankly). Evie declined to sit on his lap, but magnanimously accepted a candy cane.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. I'm grateful for all my family members, including my Savior, Jesus Christ.