Dress Up

Over the years Brian's parents have accumulated a lot of Ekco's things, think every Christmas, birthday party and every other weekend of her life. Last trip, Debbie generously offered Xiana some dress up clothes. Xiana was very willing to take them off her hands. It was very sweet of Ekco to be willing to give them to her little sister. As we went through them she reminisced about all the wonderful times she had playing dress up with these clothes. More than once she wished that the dresses still fit her or that she was a little girl again. It made me think two things. First: we never really outgrow dress up. Ekco is 9-years-old, but that in no way makes her too old to play dress up. The truth is, I still play dress up. I love to have a special event that requires a dolled up Lenaya. I cherish time spent picking out the perfect dress with the perfect shoes (think wedding). Sometimes I think 9 is so old, but then Ekco gives little reminders that she is still a little girl. She has a lot of grown up characteristics and certainly understands very mature things, but deep down, she is a little girl that loves to play dress up. Second, it made me yearn for all the years that Ekco did play dress up; the years these tiny dresses fit her and she twirled around the living room happily much the same way Xiana is now. It made me sad to think of so much of her life that I missed. I wished I could be there; could see her; could watch as she grew from baby to toddler to child. Then it made me grateful that I will get to watch as she grows from child to teenager to adult. It reminded me to not take this time with Xiana for granted; to cherish it, relish in it, pay attention to her, and remember how sweet it is when a little girl plays dress up and dances around a room... the most important room in the world.
Xiana has repeatedly forced her cousin to play wedding with her thanks to this get up..
Most of these costumes come complete with tiara, shoes, and accessories.
When Ecko was here, she pacified her desire to play dress up by dressing Xiana up. Both girls had a wonderful time. I wish I would have taken a picture of every costume change!

Battle Mountain

Our last trip to Battle Mountain proved to be extraordinarily relaxing. In fact, we scarcely left the house. We did, however, go on one little jaunt to get some exercise and enjoy the great outdoors. Hunter enjoys doing anything his uncle Bri Bri does, so he joined us as well. Brian told us a terrible story about a girl who died here. Before you get too horrified, the moral of the story was: don't drink and drive and don't do drugs. Totally kid appropriate right?
Then Brian taught the kids another great lesson: when you see snakes, torment them... they might not bite you.
So that's what he did.
We walked for a bit down the river and talked about seashells. Ekco determinedly tried to find some.
Once we got in the river, she managed to spot some for all to be had.
It was beautiful and the water was warm. However, the ground was quite squishy and I was somewhat appalled by the magnitude of cow pies all over... probably under our feet. Then we just took a deep breath and enjoyed the fresh, clean air.....
or not.... But that's okay because the cows were there first, and they were awfully generous to share their river with us.
We ventured out of the house one last time to go to church on Sunday. It was a much needed weekend of R&R.

Book group

Our new ward has a book group which makes me very happy. I had been looking for one, but it's hard to find the time to find one you actually like. So... needless to say I was thrilled to discover that my new ward came with a built in book group. First book up... 20 Miles From a Match. Turns out the book is fabulous. Even more fabulous is the fact that our fearless book group leader of the month has access to all the land that this book is written about. (It's about Sarah Olds, one of the early homesteaders and, I can't lie, a superwoman!) So we got to go see for ourselves where she almost drowned, where she brought her hand cart, family, and sick husband, where she worked, prayed, laughed, and cried. We got to walk through the neighbor's old house.... we just had to watch out for lots of mouse and bird poop.
It's down right remarkable to think that this beautiful home was built in the early 1900's. Makes you wonder how we haven't had some crazy architectural breakthrough in the last 100 years... I mean really, think i-pod.
I told you there was lots of poop.
then we parked and went on a mini hike to the foundation of Sarah's home. We picnicked in the trees and the shade and breeze were amazing. It was incredible to be able to read her words and feel her spirit, her strength, her drive.
Both as I read this book and as I sat in the very spot she sat, I pondered this notion of superwoman. She, indeed, was a superwoman. She had unfailing strength and health. She was dedicated to her husband and children. She was optimistic and brave. She never gave up. She was spiritual, trusting, and one of the most capable women I have ever read about. Then I started thinking about myself, and about other mothers and wives I know. It turns out, we all have a little bit of Wonderwoman in us. Each of us carry burdens, serve our families and others, try to maintain balance with a myriad of demands placed upon us every day. I think about her and I want to be more like her. I think about her and I realize.... I already am.

Shooting with Uncle Brian

Between bathroom humor and lots of guns, Brian is vying for the spot of favorite uncle. My oldest sister's three boys came to spend a week with my parents. They have been learning about guns and even taken hunter safety and so were excited to be able to go shooting with Brian. We made it a family affair with my dad, myself, and Xiana in tow. Brian was able to bring home about 20 cases of Gatorade milkshakes that were expired. They were perfect targets as they were in aluminum cans and exploded thick pink syrup all over the place. I don't know for sure, but I think the boys were impressed. Brandon, the oldest, was able to reload his own weapons repeatedly enabling him to get a lot of shooting in. Brian was happy about that as that is exactly what he hoped for. He figured he could demonstrate how to use each gun and then turn (at least Brandon) loose.

They all shot very well. Andrew hit his first target. When the cans got hit, they flew in the air squirting all over. It was perfect.
Connor needed a little help with some of the bigger guns, but he was a great shot with the pistols and prided himself on shooting them "fast."
I'm pretty sure I was the worst shot. I couldn't hit anything! But it was still fun!
Dad enjoyed himself too. I dare say he was as eager as the boys to get his hands on these guns (particularly the rifles).
All the boys (and Xiana).
Before we left Xiana asked, "daddy, can you bring a gun for me to shoot too?" How could Brian decline? After she shot she jumped up and down squealing, "did you see me hit those cans?!"
I have discovered that I like rifles the best. It's a rush to be able to look through the scope and watch as your target explodes (that is if you can hit your target).
Xiana did what she does best... played in the dirt.
Brian set up some big jugs of water at the top and then hit them with the big guns so that they would explode. It was thrilling.
Eventually the day sort of ran like a small militia in training... it's all good!
As much as I hate to admit it... it's awfully exhilarating to shoot....
This particular weapon injured both myself and dad. He got a cut above his eye and I got a bruise on my shoulder. Not to mention it isn't the easiest shooting laying down on the rocks and dirt.
Brian just brought a small selection of guns. Clearly he had no interest in impressing his nephews :)
Xiana is "a good shooter!!"
It was really nice to have the boys here. I didn't get to see them as much as I would have liked, but Xiana spent a lot of time with them because Brian and I were on our honeymoon. She particularly clung to Connor. He asked her repeatedly who was her favorite to which she exclaimed, "you!" I overheard a very hilarious conversation between the two of them that went like this: X: I'm the mommy and you're the daddy and this is our baby. The baby is crying... hold her! C: I'm not playing. X: yes, you have to play, you have to be the daddy. C: I am not the daddy! X: (yelling now) my baby needs a daddy!!!!! I laughed and laughed and when I was telling Brian the story he chuckled and said, "gee, I wonder where she got that from." I asked her if she remembered life before she met her daddy. She looked at me confused and said, "no." What a blessing that she will never remember a time that we weren't a complete family. Pretty special. For FHE we had a lesson on the Sacrament and the boys pretty much taught the lesson. They are so sharp! Brian and I weren't convinced that anything was getting through to Xiana but the following Sunday when they were passing the sacrament Xiana leaned to me and whispered, "they are passing the water. That's for the spirit."

She's a ham

I had to check an email for school so I left Xiana in front of Dora for a moment and came out to this.... jealous?
For family home evening a month and a half ago we sat down and made a list of our family goals and then talked about what we needed to do to reach them. Then we taped a calendar below and I got a bunch of stickers. If we do everything on our list, Xiana gets to put a sticker on each day. At the end of the week she gets a treat for having 7 stickers. What prompted this lesson was that for some reason Xiana was suddenly struggling with saying her own prayers. She constantly relied on us to prompt her even though we knew she was capable of doing it by herself. The stickers have changed everything. Now she says her own prayers and we read scriptures together every night. I feel like it makes her prayers more meaningful to determine for herself what she is thankful for. Additionally, it has fostered our family prayer encouraging dilligently pray as a family as well as individual prayers. Xiana has her heart set on stickers and prizes and the result is a more spiritually uplifting household. It rocks. I am so thankful for this phase in our life with her and her growing comprehension of the scriptures and testimony. Plus, I am thankful for the difference this sticker chart has made in my own life and my personal scripture study. I had no idea it would work so nicely. I recommend it to anyone.
I was going through her clothes and grabbing dresses out that she had never worn to give away. She got mad because she didn't want me to give them all away. I exclaimed that there were so many dresses she would never wear them all. My parents gave her this purple one and she cried, "not the purple one. It's my favorite!" That Sunday when I asked her what she wanted to wear she insisted on the very same. I was a little worried it wasn't dressy enough as it is, after all, made out of a t-shirt. In the end it looked sooo cute!
I also asked her how she wanted her hair done. She promptly replied, "criss cross piggies." No one can accuse her of not knowing her own mind.

She always has something to say...

• My first night back to school (and as such Brian's first night solo with Xiana for the semester) I woke with Xiana the following morning and discovered it only takes a moment for her to pick up Brian's lingo. I asked her what she did last night and she said, "oh... we were just dinking around." Then she proceeded to tell me this elaborate story about "this guy was jumping in the water in a snow suit, but it wasn't actually a snow suit, it was more like a jacked, but not a winter jacket a spring jacket...." Turns out she was fairly accurately describing a show they had watched. Secrets are safe no more.
• One day Brian and I were upstairs and, while climbing up the stairs she yelled, "watch out, there's a little girl coming up the stairs."
• After work she asked me if I sing songs at my school.
• I took her to class with me and she asked, "where are the kids?"
• One day in the bathroom I said, "pee-you" and she said,"no, pee-me!"
• My car broke down on the way to Battle Mountain and I was explaining to her that daddy was going to attach a trailer to his truck, put the car on the trailer, and then tow mommy's car back to Reno. She exclaimed, "and then he will be a train!"
• One especially tender night she was sitting between Brian and I on the couch. She put one hand on each of us and asked, "we love each other don't we?"
• She very perceptively explained to me in the car one day that, "scars don't hurt."
• She told us that she wants a baby sister but, "not a baby brother because they are boring." I told her that if she has a sister she'll have to share her clothes with her. Weeks later when she was saying her prayer she said, "please bless us with a baby brother." Afterwards we asked her why a brother, we thought she didn't want one. She replied, "I don't wanna share my clothes."
• "I know what you do" she said to me, "you teach, Tosh makes hair, and daddy works on Sparks Blvd."
• She told me that while Brian and I were on our trip "grandma had to use the liahona to get to Kate's house because she was lost."
• One morning we were having ham and Brian was teasing her about it being horse meat. I said, "no it's not, it's pig." A few minutes later she said, "can I have some piggy? You forgot to give me piggy!"
• We are having a constant problem with her picking her nose. The other day she had her head turned away from me and she turned to say, "did you see that?" "no, I didn't" " I was picking and picking and picking my nose." "we don't pick our noses!" "yeah, but you didn't see." "It doesn't matter if I can see or not. You shouldn't pick your nose no matter what. It's gross." "Yeah, but next time I'm not gonna tell you!"
• She has also started the business of telling me to look the other way when she wants to do something she knows she's not allowed.
• She has begun to make tons of scriptural associations. We were reading about King Laman and she said, "Laman and Lemuel are mean." Later, talking about Alma she corrected us saying, "it's Alma the younger." She also told me that Lamanites are bad and Nephites are good.
• She asked us after church one day if Jesus was in our ward. Brian promptly assured her that He is in all wards.
• We were at Cabellas and she looked at the mannequin and asked, "why do they sell people here?
• At church on Sunday she kept asking me if she could go up (for testimony meeting). I ignored her because I thought she just wanted to talk in the microphone. She persisted saying, "after her it's gonna be my turn." Finally, I asked, "what are you going to say?" She said, "I'm gonna say thank you for God and thank you for Jesus, and thank you for my family, and thank you for church, and thank you for the scriptures, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen." So I said, you got it! She grabbed my hand and dragged me running to the front where she bore her testimony. She was so proud that in nursery she asked her teachers, "did you see me up there?"

Random summer pics....

I take Xiana to story time at the library on Thursdays and then we usually meet friends or play groups at the park next door. This is a very regular visual in our world.... weeeeee
Also, Xiana is such a big girl that she is now able to set up her own paints and clean them up when she is done. It helps a lot to be able to say (like when I'm making dinner or painting the house) "why don't you do an art project?"
Her friend Nikki had a How To Eat Fried Worms birthday party that was so cute complete with the moving playing in the front yard, worms galore, worm popcorn balls, worm cake, and spaghetti. After this party Xiana informed us that she wants a hitty thingy at her birthday party.
Leeya is making a break for it!
It's always sad to say goodbye to Wild Waters for the year... but like last year, we enjoyed it immensely. Xiana is absolutely fearless. She loves to swim and slide and jump and dunk.
For Hot August nights some of my (more domestic than I) girlfriends were making poodle skirts. Though we didn't attend the actual event, I made this for Xiana... well almost... I spent a bit more time making the poodle than the skirt so I left it with my mom to finish sewing the waist.

I know, how could I have possibly missed any pics?

With all these pictures I can't believe I could have forgotten to write about the craziest parts of our trip! First we towed a bull with a four-wheeler.... it was very red neck.
Then we killed a bear... he was just a little guy, but he put up a fight.
I got knocked up.
Brian got arrested for indecent exposure.
And the ocean swallowed us whole.

The end.

Weed!

For our last night we stayed in Weed CA. This city is appropriately named as we ran into all kinds of hippies and even stumbled upon a blessing of sage charm bracelets via opera style singing and hand holding in the park... neat. There is a spring that juts out of the mountain that was pretty cool. People were coming to fill their water jugs.
We drove as far as we could go on Mount Shasta and looked for wildlife but the drum circles prevented us from seeing any :)
This is a tall mountain! Mainly we just started to recuperate by relaxing and watching tv.
Though we did stop at a park and go out to dinner.
It was bittersweet for our trip to be over. We were anxious to see both Xiana and Ekco, but sad to see our trip end. Also, we needed time to catch up on EVERYTHING once we returned home so it was immediately back to the grind stone. I am grateful for this wonderful trip we were able to take. It was truly amazing!