Christmas

We put all of Persy's presents into an igloo tent on Christmas morning. She had a lot of fun playing inside. We spent Christmas in Logan with extended family and had a great time that weekend hanging out, bowling, running, going to "Sherlock Holmes," and even playing laser tag.

Persy and her cousin with their new Mongolian princess hats.


Gabe, exhausted after all the festivities

Twas the Night Before Christmas . . .

There is something about being in a children's hospital at Christmas time that is very humbling. Persy ended got sick last week with a cold and then ended up in respiratory distress again. As we took care of her I couldn't help but notice the other weary parents there with children much sicker than our own. I felt sad for them, and so grateful that Persy was able to leave on Christmas Eve so we wouldn't have to spend our holidays at the hospital. I also felt grateful that we have some new medications to try with Persephone and also received additional counseling regarding her peanut allergy. We are so very fortunate to be near to excellent medical care.

Nativity Cast and Crew

Every Christmas my family gets together to act out the Nativity. There's always a festive dinner of clam chowder and Christmas candies. There's always the somewhat rambunctious group of cousins running about dressed as angels, shepherds, etc, and there's always the stern warning against lighting house and hair on fire as we each light a candle and sing "Silent Night." It's always a fun event that everyone enjoys!

Our Little Angel

The Wise People

Mary, Joseph, and a Shepherd

The night ended with Persy getting to open gifts from her Grammy and Grandpa.

Scary Santa

I can't stop smiling at these pictures of pure terror we caught on Gabe's iphone . . . I hope this doesn't reflect poorly on me as a mother.

More Medical Adventures

Sometimes I wish I had a medical degree. It would certainly be more useful in my role as a mother than the anthropology degree that I currently hold. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to expand my medical knowledge yet as another crisis unfolded with Persephone.

We were sitting at dinner and Persy was picking at her meal and whining about the nuisance and eating when I decided to give her some peanut butter in hopes of enticing her appetite. We had her 18 month appointment earlier in the day and the doctor had cleared me for introducing this new food into her diet. Within seconds of her first lick she began rubbing her eyes and sneezing. I hurried and snatched her from the high chair and immediately ran to the car as hives began to spread across her face.

Even though we live close to medical care, it always seems a long drive to me when I'm fighting traffic and I can't see her from the rear view mirror. Persy was coughing a little and I was quite worried that her respiratory problems would worsen during my drive to Instacare and she might go into anaphylaxis shock.

Fortunately, she remained stable through the drive and with a dose of benadryl her condition improved after a couple of hours of monitoring. I think the benadryl made her a little hyper because she spent the long evening at Instacare running around, saying "hi" to every entering patient, and delighting in the otterpops and suckers that the enamored nurses were supplying. The poor girl looked all swollen like Quasimoto, but she couldn't have cared less.

So, short story long, it looks like we will need to visit an allergist to confirm the peanut allergy. We also have to keep Persy away from any products that may contain peanuts, (which are a lot,) because any additional exposure greatly increases her risk for anaphylaxis shock. This child certainly knows how to keep things lively and expensive!

18 Months

Our smiling, running, jumping, laughing, dancing, difficult to capture little girl is growing up way too fast!

Sous Chef

I've been making a lot of cookies with the help of the world's cutest sous chef. She likes to help pour, knead, frost and sprinkle. She enjoys smelling each of the spices with an enthusiastic "Mmmm. . . " Fortunately for me, she is also enthusiastic about helping to sweep and clean afterwards.

Mixed Reviews

Lights on Temple Square got mixed reviews from Persy this year. She loved going inside the visitor's center to see the giant statue of Christ, but she was cold and a little cranky for the outdoor portion. Classic grumpiness! :)

Bed Head

Love Story

I LOVE . . .

* nuzzling my nose into her silky, just washed hair.
* the way she signs "hot" with so much flair that she looks Italian.
* how she cracks herself up.
* watching her run in a circle, iggling because she can't keep her balance.

* how she gently rubs my back if she sees me lying down.
* her intense fascination with all things train related.
* the way she folds her arms and likes to say little prayers all day.
* how excited she gets when she helps me with laundry.
* her long brown hair and dark brown eyes.

Expedition

Gabe left in the wee hours this morning for a trip to Peru. He will be visiting Machu Pichu with my father and two brothers. I hope he has an incredible time!

Little Chicken and the Bollywood Star

Playing in Nature's Toy Box

This past year, I've become more aware of the calming effects of nature on both Persephone and myself. If I'm feeling disgruntled, a little air and sunshine usually has the power to diffuse a bad mood. I make it a point to spend at least a little time outside each day, regardless of the weather. With perfect fall temperatures over the last couple of weeks we've been spending a lot of time outdoors walking, exploring, playing. I let Persy collect pine cones, leaves, stones and other small objects to bring home and play with together. She loves to take them out of her bowl and then put them back in again. Sometimes the best toys are the free ones that Mother Nature provides!

First Haircut

Run, Wendy, Run

I knew that running a marathon would be a challenge, but I had no idea it would be so much fun! I was amazed by all the friendly volunteers and the great crowd support. I also felt a lot of camaraderie with my fellow runners and really enjoyed the gorgeous course route for the St. George Marathon. As a first timer, I don't think I could have had a better experience. One thing that really helped me was running most of the race with a pacing group. I finished in 5 hours and 28 minutes, (I had no goal time and had estimated my pace at closer to 6 hours, so I was pretty thrilled with my time.) I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity and thankful for all the support I received from friends and family.

St. George Marathon By the Numbers:

0 Blisters (Smart Wool Socks Oh, how I love thee!)

1 Pre-Race Banana

2 Times listening to "I'm Gonna Be" (500 Miles) by the Pretenders and feeling so happy that I actually started to sing out loud while I ran.

4 Family members that came to cheer me on

5 Hours of sleep the night before

6 New friends (Thank you Deb and Esther)

7 Thousand runners in the race

11 Mile mark when I wished I was a man so I wouldn't have to wait in line for the port-a-potty

15-17 My favorite miles of the race with breathtaking scenery of Snow Canyon- I can hardly describe my elation

22 "The Wall" - My 2 mile stretch of nausea and fatigue



24 Family greets me and some angel hands me a bag of crushed ice (Pictured above at mile 24, the finish line is so close I can almost taste it!)

26.2 Miles completed!

I Love the Mountains, I Love the Rolling Hills!

I am often surprised by the fact that I have lived in Utah nearly all of my life and I still feel like there thousands of places in the state left to discover. Here are some pictures from a lovely little Mommy-Daughter hike to Doughnut Falls that I took with Persy and my friend Megan. The fall leaves were just beginning to change and the drive up the canyon was quite stunning.

Megan and her cuties- I'm lucky to have an adventurous friend that will do such fun things with me. This is one of the same friends that traveled throughout Europe with me before we both got married. We are constantly planning excursions and expeditions that we want to go on when we are little old ladies.

The kids all loved tossing rocks into the water!

I love my Kelty backpack! I also use it around the city to do errands.

San Diego Beach, Utah Attire

I really love this picture of Gabe and Persy! Notice the long sleeve shirt and pants. He's not wearing a wet suit, he is wearing the clothes that he planned for the plane ride home after our few hours at the beach. He didn't let the absence of a swimsuit destroy his fun, he just dove right into the ocean pants and all! (Don't worry, he dried off in time for the flight.)

San Diego's Wild Animal Park

For my birthday, Gabe planned a family trip to San Diego. The first day of vacation we went to the Wild Animal Park. It was an impressive park where you could see lions, giraffes, elephants and other wild animals in a more natural preserve type setting. We had fun, but we were all so stinking hot that we felt like we might faint and found ourselves shelling out cash for touristy little spray bottle fans and overpriced ice cream. I hope I can go back some day when the temperatures are more reasonable.

The best part was the safari type tour where we got to see giraffes roaming around and eating from trees.

Petting the Very Tame Deer