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.

24th of July weekend

It was a busy weekend for us. Justin spent some time with his Grandpa Petersen at the farm where he worked for the summer when he was 16. He couldn't stop talking about it. He also had a good time with his family that came to town. He said Baby Jack is darling. I headed to Park City with Nolan to be with my family for our annual shopping trip. First we went to the 24th of July parade downtown and then spent some more time at Gateway. Nolan loved the jets and news helicopters the most. And the marching bands... maybe he'll be a drum major like his Daddy! Park City was beautiful. I was pleased that Nolan enjoyed the new surroundings and watching his cousins. He now jumps off the edge of the pool. I turned my back for one second and he jumped in! I was ready to jump in after him but Uncle Bryan beat me to it. He was wearing floaties, but it was still startling. From then on, he kept jumping in and he DID NOT want to be caught. I had to pretend that I wasn't watching and then catch him as he bobbed back up to the surface. What a wild boy! I'll have to get that on film next time. We also went to Rocky Mtn. Chocolate Factory for caramel apples two nights in a row. Nolan was so happy to carry around the core to suck on. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for having us all to that beautiful condo. I'm already excited for next year.

Here are some pics I took as I followed Nolan around the grounds. I wish I was a photographer... these will have to do.

Gateway date

Justin and I had a fun time with our friends, Amber and John, at the Gateway last night. We ate at Z Tejas and the steak salad I ordered was divine. The boys, Jaxon and Nolan, were well behaved at dinner... throwing food, eating crayons, tossing sippy cups (you know). Actually, they really were quite pleasant. We then walked to the fountain and the boys weren't as thrilled with it as we thought they'd be. Nolan started to get used to it about when I was getting tired of the sun in my eyes. I guess the water shooting out of the ground is a bit unnerving. We still managed to get pretty wet though. At Barnes & Noble, the boys had the most fun playing with the train table. What a good time for a lesson in sharing (yeah, right). Ever since going out, Justin keeps saying how pleasant I've been: cleaning the house, cleaning Nolan after J let him play in the mud, and other things. I told him that it pays to take me out! Thanks, honey!

Some of the grandparents have been wondering what else Nolan has been saying lately. And I wanted to write what he says so that I'll have a record of what he's up to at this point. Here is Nolan's repertoire: mom, daddy, happy, uh-oh, busy, owee, yummy, happy day, up, grandpa ("gam-pa"), no, whoa, and thank you (but this sounds like "ah-do"). It sure is fun when the language skills take off. He also gestures or signs: yes, more, all done, stinky (for diaper changing), and he folds his arms so cute for prayer. This is my favorite! I just want to squeeze my reverent boy (it's rare, oh so rare, that he's quiet). Hopefully we'll get some more cute video to post or better yet, we'll just see all the grandparents in the next month or so. As Nolan would say, have a "happy day!"

Speakin' my language

It has been a difficult week for us. It seems Nolan has been whining or all out screaming non-stop. He is literally bored to tears and I'm out of ideas. Today, at the end of my rope after church, Nolan brightened my day. He has been saying about 10 or 11 words, but today he has two more! One is more a gesture, but you'll see:

Obviously he has heard us say "no" a lot this week. It's cute that he is saying more, but I'll probably start wishing he didn't know that word. One of his 2nd cousins, Andrew, would really get along with him... he is always saying "no" also! And I might as well say, at the end of this video scene he scooted toward the salt shaker and poured half of it all over the table. Cute, real cute.

Long summer already

I'm already finding myself wishing for cooler weather. Nolan and I get a little (or a lot) bored of staying in the house all day. I thought I'd let you know what we've been up to. I've been reading two books: The Host and A Burning Within . The first one is for fun and the second one is for the ward book club. I can hardly put them down, especially A Burning Within. I've now finished it and I think I'll be thinking about it every day for a long time. It's by Ranelle Wallace; I highly recommend! Justin is also reading The Host (he's a Stephenie Meyer fan to the core) and can't stop talking about it. Nolan wanders around the house just bored out of his mind... probably because we're just reading. Suddenly the whining stopped. It got very quiet and here's what I found:

It's a fish frenzy! He found the whole bag of goldfish (which are actually whales because they're the cheap brand) and had a good 'ol time. I left the mess there for at least an hour because he was behaving so well amid the school of fish! And when I made cookies for FHE I gave Nolan a beater. Again he sat for a long time (what a relief) licking every last bit.
My friend Amber invited me over to put our boys in her kiddie pool. They loved it until Jaxon stuck his finger in Nolan's mouth and, naturally, Nolan bit. It was sad for all involved. Nolan cried out with guilt.

Nolan and I also went to my sister Lacey's house and hung out in her backyard for an hour playing in her hose sprinkler. She was out of town and knew that we'd enjoy a fenced in yard. I only wish I'd brought my book! I think we'll go back there next week. I can't wait until we put in a fence!
Also, we finally got around to doing sparklers when Justin's Mom came to visit on Sunday night. That was fun and he loved getting hosed down along with the sparklers as they died out.
Lastly, we all just returned from swimming and snarfing down a Papa Murphy's pizza. We took Nolan down the waterslide and he walked all around the shallow area until he went too far and he walked in past his chin. He didn't know when to stop! Even though the heat keeps us mostly inside, I'm grateful for when we can get out and have fun together!