Monday, August 29, 2011

It's official

We've moved! It's been a long week...a lot of packing, cleaning, driving, unpacking, organizing, errand running, visiting...exhausting. But we are doing well!! Plus we've got our trip to CA coming up next week that we are so excited about. It will the be the perfect ending to the summer, and then we can really face reality when we get back.


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Swim lessons

About a month ago I was trying to decide if I should sign Elsie up for swim lessons. We had been taking her swimming a bunch, but she refused to put her head underwater. I was also nervous about the fact that she might not be tall enough for lessons. I debated (way more than I needed to!!!) but finally decided to sign her up for the preschool class at the Caldwell Pool.

She had a few weeks between the registration date and the start of lessons. I was amazed at how much she improved during that time. By the time we started lessons, she was a pro. She probably didn't even need them since everything was so basic, but she still had a blast. Her favorite part of lessons was when they got to go down the slide and jump off the diving board.

I love her face when she comes up out of the water. So intense!







Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A little about August...so far

We had a yard sale last weekend in preparation for our move to Utah. (Yes, we are moving in a couple weeks.) I had promised Elsie earlier in the summer that she could do a lemonade stand because she saw a little friend of hers having one at their yard sale. Well, it was a big hit, and she had lots of customers. She was loving collecting all her coins for Disneyland! And she even wrote the sign all by herself.

We were at the Nike Factory Store and found these tennis shoes for Elsie. She needed some new fall shoes and some for our trip, and we couldn't pass these up. I think I'm in love with them even more than she is. I want them in my size!



Elsie this month: Loves playing Candyland...she's obsessed. Thinks we need to go swimming every day. Is counting down the days until Grandpa comes to pick her up. Loves to talk, read, watch shows. Couple funny things she always says: "Why did you didn't...?" and while playing games "That little bit helps." (I know only Aaron and I will care about that stuff.)

Kim this month: Stressed about getting stuff ready to move. Having back/leg problems. Getting a decent tan! Enjoying eating cereal again (I'll have to put a stop to that soon). Counting down the days until our trip to Disneyland.

Aaron this month: Training for triathlons and marathon. Taking care of the yard which included planting a new tree and figuring out what to do with the extra landscape rock. Getting really sick of work but only 1 1/2 more weeks. Hanging out with us and taking care of the crazy, sensitive girls that we are! :)

So we are finally making the move to Utah that we have talked about for so long. We are excited! We are renting out our house in Nampa and moving in with Aaron's brother and family. They were kind enough to let us and Charlie move in, so we are so grateful for that. Aaron is going out on his own and is hoping to do some criminal defense, bankruptcy, P.I., etc. He's really looking forward to being on his own, choosing what cases he wants to take, setting up his own schedule, and not having to deal with carnies! Plus he's playing on his friends' flag football team, which he's been missing out on for ten years. Elsie is signed up for preschool down there already. We are looking forward to being closer to family and friends, but we will miss it here a ton. It's bittersweet, but we are ready.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

July Update

Here's the update for July:

We have spent a lot, and I mean A LOT, of time at the pool this summer. It is so cheap and so fun, and Elsie just can't get enough of it. Her poor feet at the beginning of the summer were so sore and torn up from playing so much. It was quite the challenge to get her to put her face under the water. Aaron even bought her some goggles, but it still didn't really seem to help. But after spending some time with older friends, Elsie has become quite the swimmer. She loves to go underwater and swim around. She loves to jump off the side of the pool and will do it over and over and over again.

Whenever she comes up from the water, it is always such a production. She has to get her hair off her face, get all the water off her face, take a bunch of deep breaths, and then always a proud smile. Then she's back at it again!







There's the tongue! It's always hanging out.


ZOO:
We spend a day at the zoo with Pam, Ellie, Hailey, and Sam. It's always a good time at the zoo, but this day was especially nice weather and the kids were great.

The penguins were super active that day. We sat there for a quite a while watching them.
Elsie's favorite part was getting to touch the snake. She wanted Daddy to be there so badly just to freak him out.
She loves to feed the sheep and goats at the farm. She has no fear!! It kind of grosses me out.
We ended the trip off with lunch with Daddy at BlueSky Bagel. Oh, we will miss that place!

FRIENDS:
Elsie has made such great friends here in Nampa. We love spending time with them and doing fun things. I'm glad she's got kids to hang out with and have a good time.

Sam and Elsie's pre-engagement picture.
Elsie, Hailey, and Lauren
Elsie, Avery, Ellie, Hailey, and Lily at the Jumpin' Jungle
OTHER RANDOMS:
We spent an afternoon playing with playdoh and had such a great time. Elsie is always so fun to play with and always lets me know how much she loves me and how much fun she is having.
(I really hate when blogger puts the pictures up out of order when I took the time to download them correctly!!)

Anyway, a couple other side notes. We bought tickets to see Mary Poppins in Salt Lake in September, so we checked out the movie for Elsie to become more familiar with it. Oh my gosh! She loves it! We've been a little obsessed with the songs lately. Our ipod now rotates heavily between Mary Poppins, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Lady Gaga.

I was asked to speak at Girl's Camp this year. I was assigned the topic of enduring all things and was asked to talk about some of the trials our family has endured. I was dreading it...I'm not gonna lie. I was nervous, anxious, felt unqualified, you name it. But I put a lot of time and thought into it, and realized I needed to do it. It was an amazing experience. I had to present it to five different groups and each time I spoke I felt so much better. I'm really not one to get spiritual, especially on the blog, but I did want to make a note about that day and remember how I felt. I think it's Cali that I first heard say, "I can do hard things." That was my motto and still is my motto. It's all worth it, and we can make it through whatever we are given.



Fireworks

This was a rare year when we were actually home for the 4th of July. We spent the afternoon at the pool and did a few fireworks that night. We didn't want to spend very much, so we mostly got little things Elsie could do. We knew there would be so many other fireworks to watch in the neighborhood, so we weren't too concerned. Plus, we all know Aaron isn't a big fan of fireworks anyway. :)