Some pictures, some facts, some fun

It's been a while since I've posted any pictures (mainly because I've forgotten to take my camera with me lately). So, here are some random shots of the kids:

Here are some recent achievements of our little William Billiam (as Eliana likes to call him):

• he cut two new teeth this week (one on the 15th and one on the 17th. They are the teeth on either side of his bottom front teeth.


• he stopped nursing on Friday the 16th. This may be due, in part, to a stomach ache from consuming poinsettia leaves (more on that later).


• he slept ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE NIGHT last night. Those of you who have either talked to me in person or read my blog in the past three years will know how ecstatic I am over this achievement. I hope it continues.


• he can stand alone, but doesn't do it for long. He usually lets go of something, then squats slowly to the ground. It's quite amusing.

Now for the fun. We went to Provo/Salt Lake this weekend and had a great time. We unfortunately didn't get to visit with everyone, but we enjoyed seeing those we did. On Thursday we drove to Provo and stayed at my grandma Beth's house. When I asked if we could stay there, I specifically asked her not to make a fuss. But, true to form, she didn't listen. We arrived to a lunch of homemade chicken noodle soup and salad. Darryl left to do some work while the kids and I got to visit with Grandma, Grandpa and Bonnie. Grandma also "threw together" a fabulous dinner of pork chops, bread, etc. She's nearly 87, but you'd never guess it.

That evening I met up with my friend and former mission companion Marcia , who I haven't seen in seven years or so. I had a great time chatting with her, and wish we lived a lot closer.

On Friday, Darryl headed to Logan to do some more work. The rest of us went with G &G, Lara, and kids to Carl's Jr. Eliana loved playing on the play equipment, leaving me free to visit with my cousin and grandparents.

Darryl didn't get back from Logan until 8:00 or so, so I decided to stay in Provo/Orem through nap time. I then was able to visit Andi, Mark and the gang, including a guest appearance by cousin Kjirsten. Andi created an oh-so-fabulous meal of curried-lentil stew, scallops in coconut juice (aka "shrimp nuggets"), homemade bread toasted with cheese (cheddar for the kids, feta/onion/radish for the adults)....mmmmm, I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it. Eliana and Zina had a great time playing together, and too soon it was time to go.

We stayed at Janice's house that night. Right as I walked in the door I realized that I left the pack-n-play in Provo. Drat! But, Ruth and Pat live close by, so we borrowed theirs.

The next day we played with Grammy J, did some badly needed clothes shopping, and then had a big party hosted by J. We loved seeing everyone, but I kept wishing time would stand still so I could visit more with each person.

On Sunday we went to church at our old ward (again wishing we had way more time to visit with our friends), and stopped by Dan and Allison's place.

While in Salt Lake, Williams main goals were: 1. get electrocuted (he wanted to play with every socket--especially if there was something in it), 2. fall down the stairs (we caught him crawling head first down the first few steps at J's house), 3. eat dangerous things (that's not much different from daily life, but he managed to eat some poinsettia leaves when we weren't looking and got a bad stomach ache). I'm amazed he made it through the weekend.

Thanks Janice, G. Beth and G. Woody for being wonderful hosts and putting up with our loud and crazy children.

p.s. I've been posting on my health blog again. If any of you would like to contribute recipes, advice, etc (Beka, Angie, Shelby, Ambre, Becca, Andi, Erika, etc.), let me know, and I'll add you on. I think I would be more motivated to post (and follow through with my goals) if there were other people involved.