Big bonk

Nolan has just recovered from a hard bonk to the head. He slipped on some books and nailed the corner trim of the closet. It turned into a massive goose egg with a blue line running down the middle. Scary! Of course the pictures don't really show it too well. Our camera's flash is so obnoxious sometimes. We hope he doesn't have a concussion... I don't know anything about those but it sounds like a frightening word.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Cherry Hill water park just north of Lagoon. We had a really nice time together and Nolan absolutely loved going down the water slides... he didn't even mind the dark tunnels. You had to sit on these mats and it was amazing how fast we got going. We met up with Lacey and her family. They were nice enough to watch Nolan while Justin and I went on the Cardiac Canyon tube ride (no little tikes allowed). It was pretty fun until we got stuck in a whirlpool area and another man came around the corner, flipped off his tube and nailed me in the head with his foot. His glasses had fallen off and he looked pretty freaked out. Good times. I love swimming because Nolan is so peaceful and sleepy afterward. It was good to have one last wet hurrah to end the summer. Justin kept flirting with that glistening mermaid... other than that it was a great trip.

My rockin' brother

I don't know that I've mentioned my brother on the blog before. Grady lives in St. George and is pretty busy so sometimes I don't even hear what he's up to. But last week my mom called and told me she'd just gotten home from his wedding! I haven't met his wife, Kristen, but I've seen pictures and they look so happy. I can't wait to meet her next time I go to St. George. I'm just so thrilled with the picture that Kristen has just sent me. Grady is so cool, and this picture really shows that. Grady has such a likeable personality... always so funny! Whenever I watch American Idol and see Ryan Seacrest, I feel like I'm watching my brother. Well, here's the picture. And congrats to Grady and Kristen! Best wishes for a happy marriage!

It's been a lousy week for us, so at least I have the wedding to report on. Nolan and Justin caught colds and then I followed soon after. It seemed like it would be a short thing for all of us, but my sore throat kept getting worse and worse. Finally after 4 days I went to the Urgent Care. The strep test was negative but he found some sores (like canker sores) lining the top of my throat. No wonder I was in such pain! Apparantly they are triggered by stress after having a cold. Stress? Well, I didn't realize I was stressed but I just started a new BYU English course (Compiling Personal History) and received a new calling at church. Justin and I were Primary teachers but now I'm the 2nd counselor in Young Womens. So I guess I could have been a bit more stressed out than I realized. This morning (Wednesday) is the first day that I've finally put away all the cough drops and Chloraseptic spray... not that they helped all that much anyway. It will be nice to eat normal again!

Guess what Wii got?

Yes, Justin and I finally broke down and bought a Nintendo Wii about two weeks ago. We've been wanting one for over a year so it was time! Justin thought he had an opportunity at work to make a little more money. Our eyes were big as saucers as we talked about how the extra money in a month would pay for a Wii. The next day Justin got home from work and said that the opportunity had fallen through. But he had this crazy look in his eye and then he said, "But I think we should still get a Wii so that we can make ourselves feel better!" I wasn't going to say no! We drove over the Oquirrh mountains (literally) and found a Target in South Jordan that had them in stock. We've had so much fun with it ever since. Justin and I have never been so good at sports!

Also, Nolan and I just finished a mom 'n tot swimming class. It was about 45 min. of swimming for the past 9 days. Nolan loved it, but I was glad to be done... swimming every day does nothing for my appearance (except maybe the hint of a tan). As soon as we'd come around the corner of the pool office, Nolan would squirm until I set him down. Then he'd run (full out sprint) straight into the water. I love those beach entry pools. I'm so glad that my friend Amber and her son, Jaxon, took the class with us. Those boys are fishes! They sang songs, jumped off the side, and we even went down the water slide on the last day. Justin did the class with Nolan on his Friday off. It was a good chance to take pictures!

Here's a little video of Nolan jumping in... no fear!

5, 6, 7, 8...

August always gets me thinking about the "olden" days. I guess it's that school is starting again and I begin thinking about all the years of dance that I took and sometimes still miss. And then that gets me thinking about moving away from home and going to BYU. Those were some great times! Of course I love where I'm at in life, but I get a little quiet inside when I think that all those memories are getting farther and farther in the past. I just thought I'd share some pictures from those good 'ol days. Just to set the stage, here I am as a Junior in high school:

Here are some dance buddies. I'm the purple ballerina (age 14 or so) and later I played a dancing doll for the little girls that I helped teach. And look, there's Fred and Ginger!

Here's my pointe class: I'm on the far right (in case you weren't sure).

Here's a jazz dance we did... fun ones like this make me miss it all the more. I'm on the far right again (age 17). Just for fun: do any of you watch Courtney Orton on the news (ch. 5, I think)? She's in the green in the middle.

And here I'm on the cover of Dance Magazine... jk! My brother-in-law designed this for one of my birthdays. Pretty cool!

So then came college. I danced on the Folk Dance team. It was so different from what I'd done, but lots of fun. I really wanted to do Irish dancing. That's where I met Justin, of course. So you'll enjoy seeing him in these pictures too! Yes, we're a dancing family! Most of the pictures were taken when we were still friends. He loved to tease me about that nasty braid I had to weave into my hair. And we had fun portraying the romantic Russian couple (in the yellow costumes)... I guess that started it all.

Here's the best costume of all... our Urkrainian finale. Lots of fun! Justin did some wicked moves in this one... continuous kicks sure gave him strong thighs! ;-) We weren't yet dating here either, but I suppose we both knew we would be.

I'm happy that Justin is part of my dancing past. Someday we'll take ballroom lessons again. Until then, we'll keep dancing in the kitchen (when the blinds are shut because we're a little rusty).

Whoa, what's that?

Did you catch that? It's Nolan's first sentence! At first I didn't think he knew what it meant, but he seems to say it when he sees something new and exciting, so I guess he does understand.

It's been a busy week. We've been to the Children's Museum (forgot the camera) with friends, hung out with cousins riding their little Jeep and getting sprayed with the hose, and we just got home from the Tooele County fair. Now, I'm no fair connoisseur (that might be an oxymoron), but who's the smartie that decided fairs should be held in the dead of summer? Not a thinker, that guy. All of us little mommies pushed our kids around until we thought we'd melt. Funny how the kids don't seem to care. There was a horse that kept trying to nibble Nolan's ear. It's the first I've seen him look nervous. And they had free hats to craft (Nolan climbed on the table and chewed on buttons while I busily glued the ribbon). I'm pretty sure Nolan was aware of the foul smell coming from the pig pens because he had an odd look on his face while watching them. What a day!

Lastly, Nolan's cousin Rocky came for a visit last night. It's too bad they live so far away; they'd be great buddies. And it was good to meet the newest cousin, Jack. As a sidenote, Nolan had fallen asleep mid-spaghetti slurp before they arrived. Rocky kept saying, "Nolan, wake up." They had a good jump on the neighbor's trampoline. ***As a side note, I don't like tramps (either kind). I don't want Nolan busting bones or teeth.