3 Ways to End a Tantrum

1. Tell your child that they are "Not allowed to Smile"
3. Tell the child that their tantrum really isn't that impressive. Encourage them to really commit to the role and give you a louder and more dramatic response.
3. Pull out the camera

Advent

Christmas celebrating is in full swing around here. We are doing an advent calender with activities each day. So far, Persy's favorite event has been playing with the expandable fake snow I bought at Smith's. We also have plans to make cookies, see lights, and do kiddie art projects. It has also been so exciting to teach Persy about the birth of Jesus.

Gratitude

Good Things:
* Long, cold nights for knitting
* Sampling an endless variety of hot chocolate flavors from cafes and grocery stores. My two favorites have been Starbuck's Salted Caramel and Stephen's Cherry Chocolate.
* KUED "Circus" mini-series on Wednesday nights
* Sundays for snuggling with the husband and tot
* Polka-dot wrapping paper
* Winter dreams about an upcoming trip to Hawaii. I can practically hear that ocean surf!

(P.S. Persy and I have been attaching thankful feathers to the homemade turkey above. Zebras and Binkies have shown up several times on her list. :)

Witchy Fun

Yes, we are still here. We've been spending every spare minute outside soaking in all of the sun before this week's snow storm. Here are a few highlights from our fall festivities just to get things caught up. Witch Sightings at Gardner Village

Warm fall stroll through Red Butte Garden


Pumpkin Everything: pumpkin painting, pumpkin patches, and sweet pumpkin sticky rice.

Fall Hiking

A lot of playing = very little blog posting. I hope that you are also enjoying the spectacular fall weather! We are trying to soak up every once of sunlight to store up for those long winter months.
A Short Family Hike Up Big Cottonwood Canyon

The view in Logan Canyon during our hike to the Wind Caves.

The Big 3-0

I guess it is time to start counting my birthdays in half years, now that I have passed the triple decade mark! I was dreading turning 30, but it ended up being a truly wonderful weekend and now I'm excited to see what the next decade will bring. I feel happy with where my life is right now, happy about my wonderful little family, happy being a full time mother, and happy with all of the rich relationships I enjoy.
(Snorkel Gear from Gabe- I can't wait to use it for an upcoming trip to Hawaii!) For my birthday, I went to two evening performances of the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. I had a blast and some of the stories made me laugh so hard that I was snorting and crying. One night I went to the festival with friends and the next night with my snuggly husband.

Two of my very close friends threw a fun party for me on my birthday. There were friends from church, friends from book club, and friends from law school. The food was tasty and I had a wonderful time just chatting with everyone. I don't think I've had a "real" birthday party since I turned 16! It made me feel so loved to have friends celebrating with me.

Lots of cute kids running around and having fun at the party.

Our close friends Yosef and Lindsey

Persy laughing with our close friend Dave. Dave has a houseful of boys and they are all very cute with Miss Persy.

Preschool

First Day of Preschool today! A couple of amazing mom friends and I are doing a preschool co-op one day a week this year and Persy will be attending. She ran right into the home "classroom" without a good-bye to her mom and had a major meltdown when I came to pick her up and take her home. I guess that's a good sign, (even if it breaks my heart just a little.)

Twenty-Nine Things

If you've followed our blog, you may have noticed that several years ago I started trying to do one new thing for each year of my age. It's just a fun way to make sure that I continue to grow each year and see new things. This is my last week to be twenty-nine, so here is a list of what this year of life has brought me:

1. Ran my first marathon
2. Saw a baby elephant nursing with its mother
3. Heard Beethoven's 5th Live
4. Went Snorkeling off the coast of St. Thomas
5. Made my first cheesecake
6. Mastered the one-handed egg crack
7. Tried out new hikes to Doughnut Falls, Hidden Falls, and Cecret Lake
8. Ate Sudanese Food
9. Drove a rental car
10. Learned how to thread my own sewing machine and made bean bags and pajama pants
11. Flew International with a child
12. Finally read "A Christmas Carol"
13. Visited new Salt Lake City landmarks: Red Butte Garden, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and Discovery Gateway
14. Ate Somali Food
15. Started doing Zumba dance classes
16. Saw monkeys in the wild
17. Swam in an underground cenote
18.Went to a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert
19. Went to Holi Festival
20. Shared my adoption story with high school students
21. Went to an Estate sale
22. Ate Conch
23. Watched a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis
24. Improved my knitting by learning how to increase, decrease, and purl stitch
25. Went to Coba
26. Toured through caves in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico
27. Painted my own pottery
28. Went to Ogden's Treehouse Museum
29. Ran the famous Canyonlands Half-Marathon and beat my previous half-marathon time by a full 25 minutes.

Alright, so now it's your turn to help me out. As I approach the big 3-0 I'd love to hear your ideas for things to try this next year!

Cecret Lake

Last week, we had a fun hike to Cecret Lake, up near Alta ski resort. Persy loved scampering across the rocks near the lake and watching the many chipmunks. She is my little adventure girl!

Sitting near her friend Ethan

The scenery was incredible and the trail was surrounded by summer wild flowers. This picture doesn't do it justice!

Beat the Heat

We've had a wonderful summer! There has been a lot of hiking, gardening, swimming, exploring, and playing. We also had several super hot days this summer filled with art projects, reading and science experiments. I had 42 activities I wanted to do with Persy this summer, and we completed 37 of them! Whew. Here's just a sample of what we've done:

Painting with Water- Persy loved watching the lines disappear in the hot sun.

Squishing Bag and then painting with it- Persy was bothered by the texture. The green food coloring might have grossed her out too.

Indoor 2 Litre Bowling - a huge hit that we'll do again this winter.

Big Girl Bed

After just one rough night, we've transitioned to the Toddler Bed. Persy seems to love having the "Big Girl Bed" in her room, but then every night she climbs out and sleeps on the floor. Not sure why.


This is how we find her after each nap and each morning. I never hear a "thump" or a cry, so I'm pretty sure she is climbing out and preferring to sleep on the floor. Puzzling. I wish she had told us her preference for "roughin' it" before we bought her the bed. We could have saved some cash! :)

St. George

We had a blast last month in St.George with extended family. Persephone had a wonderful time playing with her older cousins and I had a delightful time seeing several productions at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and also Tarzan at the Tuacahn. It was pretty much an ideal vacation to suit both our interests and I'm thankful to all the extra help that I got from the grandparents and cousins.Lots of Swimming

Snail Collecting

Cousins

Sun Valley 2010

We took another wonderful trip to Sun Valley for the Utah Bar Convention this year. It is always so much fun to go there and hang out with some of our friends.Persy now has several little friends her age that go to the convention. This cute little boy is Theo.

Eating sushi with our friends the Millers and their three little girls. I often brought a separate meal for Persy when we ate at restaurants because of her peanut and tree nut allergies. She is such a picky eater that she rarely makes a fuss about not sharing my entree. I was pleased that she gave the edamame an adventurous taste though.



Sun Valley is beautiful in the summer!

Doughnut Falls

My awesome 11 year old niece has been visiting from Texas this month. She spent a couple of days at our house and then we hung out again in St. George. Texas sounds like a great place, but it does lack mountains so we had to get out for a little hike together. (Actually the hike was a littler longer than planned because as the fearless leader I got us lost and we ended up turning a one hour hike into 3 1/2 hours. Whoops!) I'd love to do more hiking before it gets cold again. What are your favorite Utah hikes to do with children?
Dang, she hasn't even left for home yet and I'm already missing her. She was so helpful with Persy too!

Persy Playing Underneath Doughnut Falls

Hidden Falls

We're trying to get some good hikes in this summer. We searched for Hidden Falls up Big Cottonwood, but I'm not sure that we actually found it. Oh well, it was a perfect morning just the same exploring with my friend Megan and her two kiddies. I love living so close to the mountains.


Persy's friend Ethan, snuggled in with his mommy

Sugar and Spice

Sugar and SPICE, (and everything nice . . . ) That's what little two-year-olds are made of.

Fire Station

We had a fun little trip to tour a fire station this morning. I love that Persy and I get to do these activities together. It makes me feel happy that I get spend so much time with her because I love watching her discover the world. The firemen let the kids climb into the fire truck and look around the ambulance. We were about to finish the tour when they got a call and had to jump into their trucks. It was pretty exciting!

Birthday Morning

Persy turned two last week and we had a wonderful day together as a family. We went into her room with singing, balloons, and a birthday crown. She was jumping up and down with excitement.Running around overjoyed

The shower of balloons that have littered our house for days now

Felt birthday crown that I hope to use for years to come

We opened presents right before we went to the aquarium. Gabe stayed up late putting together this darling wood kitchen from Ikea. She has loved preparing "snacks" for us and stirring "spices" into her dishes.