Visit from Grandma Joyce

At the end of September, Grandma Joyce (my mom) came to visit for a long weekend. Visits to Kansas apparently will be no different from her visits to Kingman, Grandma will earn her keep. As hard as I tried not to, I still put her to work. It is difficult to turn down the help when there was so much to do and she is so willing. So we painted. We painted my living room, my kitchen, my dining room, and hallway.

(See that blue smudge on the ceiling? Yep, still there. I should fix that.)

We also tore up baseboards and patched walls. Thanks to her help, it was all done in no time!

There was definitely time to play. Gracey had school during the days so Grandma and Emily got to play dress ups, soccer, and even took some trips to the park. Emily was loving the attention and I was loving that I could show off our great new town to someone.

When Gracey was finished with school, we spent a good amount of time at the park and zoo! Gracey and Emily are pretty familiar with the zoo and the animals so it was fun to have them as Grandma's little tour guides.

No trip would be complete here without eating at Bella Vita. (Okay, so we ate at Braum's as well. People know their food here!) Bella Vita though, and their pizza is just too good to pass up.

We really loved having my mom visit. It is sometimes hard to not live an easy drive away from family and we really appreciated my mom's efforts to make this visit work. We also are thankful for Allegiant Air and their cheap tickets from Las Vegas to Wichita. If anyone wants to visit, we'd love to have you!!

Hilarious Rainfall!

As if the rain didn't already have me convinced that it was the most awesome thing ever, it just earned some more cool points for making me laugh! I hope I don't forget today. In fact, as it was happening my first thought, "Dang, I wish Corky was home from work to see this!" I swear, the funny stuff always happens during the day.

It's been a little cloudy today but it hasn't rained at all, so after a trip to the grocery store, the girls resumed their playing outside. I kept the door to the open garage open so I could hear them outside if anything was needed. As I was putting groceries away, I hear a big thunder and all of the sudden the clouds just dropped the rain! I run to the garage to see the girls running and screaming towards the house. Gracey on her bike and Emily on foot! Luckily both were laughing as I cheered them on to the safety of the garage. They were soaked!!

Wouldn't you know it? Emily loses a shoe about 20 yards away from the house, having to turn around to get it.

I was dying! It was so funny. Now they are in the garage daring each other to run out to the driveway, neither one of them hesitating!


I also hear this conversation:

Emily - "We didn't get rain like that in Kingman!"

Gracey - "Sometimes we did but not very often!"

Emily - "Well, it wasn't this hard!"

Gracey - "Or this cold!"

Love those girls of mine!

Elk City State Park

One Sunday afternoon last month we took a drive, a whole 3 miles, to Elk City State Park. The girls and I had been before when we were looking at houses in May and have been anxious to return. It is so beautiful there. The weather had finally started to cool down a bit and not be so miserably humid in the evenings, so we took advantage!

We drove up to the lookout and saw the beginning of a short nature walk. I didn't really anticipate a hike so I didn't equip myself or the girls with good hiking shoes. Luckily we weren't in a hurry and could take slow, careful steps in our sandals..


Gracey lead the way most of the time while searching for the trail markers so we wouldn't get lost. Corky assured the girls that snakes really like tasty little girls but they didn't like boys, so they would be safe with him!

Close to the end of the little hike, it opened into a really pretty meadow. While I said to myself that it reminded a little of the "twilight meadow" it was Corky that actually said it out loud!

Corky is awesome. :)


For a minute, that meadow seemed little a bit of a hidden wonder. Just as I was imagining a blanket and packed lunch in a nice secluded area, we realized it wasn't as secluded as we thought. A car drove on the paved road that leads you to the look out.


And just like that, the magic was gone. But that's okay. I would be lying if I said the thought of a stampede of deer ruining my picnic and stomping on my children didn't go through my mind either.

We circled back around and played at the lookout for a while by trying to balance on the handrails and watch a gorgeous sunset! Corky and Gracey talked about how the trail markers helped us not get lost. He compared them to the things we have on earth that help us get back to Heavenly Father, such as parents, primary, scriptures, and praying. It was Sunday after all, we try to throw in gospel lessons sometimes you know!

Itty Bitty Soccer

We moved here right in time to sign the girls (and Corky and myself) up for this Fall's soccer season.

And who else should the Rec Center call when they are short a few coaches? Well, of course, the mama that has 2 kids on the same team! I will admit, I was NOT excited! Then soon came to the realization that if I wasn't going to willingly volunteer then why would I expect anyone else to do it either? I also realized how low-key this league is.

- 2 games a week
- 2 10-minute halves
- 6 kids on a team, but a 3 vs. 3 game.

My goal as a coach? To tell the kids over and over and over to kick the ball in the right direction. That's pretty much it.


Easy!

I have to admit, it is so cute. This is Emily's first season in soccer and she is doing great. She even scored a goal!


I also have to admit, with it being Gracey's 2nd season of soccer, she pretty much rocks at it! She rocked it last year on her soccer team and she was the youngest there, playing on a soccer field 4 times the size that they play on now. Now she is the oldest and is definitely a standout.



This is their last week of games. I will be happy to have more uninterrupted evenings during the week, but I do look forward to next season already.

I Heart Independence: Football

Whenever there is a home game, the whole town shows it's school spirit. There is only one high school here and everybody knows someone that plays. If they don't know somebody, it doesn't even matter. Gamedays, everybody and their dog (literally) is dressed in Orange and Black. Go Bulldogs!!!

I Heart Independence: Bella Vita

Last Friday Corky and I went to a great Italian resturaunt here in town that was FABULOUS! Our neighbor watched our kids while we enjoyed a lovely evening of wonderful food while checking out the amazing architecture. This resturaunt is located in the Hotel Booth. I only know small details of it's history, but the age itself makes it fascinating. It was built in 1911 and is now kept as an apartment building. It is also the home of my new favorite sit-down resturaunt in town, Bella Vita. And Italian food isn't even my favorite. Not to mention, we felt we were at a fancy dinner place but walked out of there spending less than $20. For all of that, I ate the best pizza of my life and Corky had an amazing chicken parmesan sub sandwich.


Corky and I looked at the floors and fancy moldings, and tried to imagine what kind of events took place in that room so long ago. It is definitely one of those places where you think, "if only walls could talk!" We imagined well dressed folks arriving for fancy dinner parties and receptions. I thought of the rich oil tycoons that were so frequent to this town, coming to the bar to wind down for the day.



I didn't want to look too touristy by taking so many photos, so I kept my flash off for some of these photos. I lightened them a little so they may look a little grainy, but they'll give you a small idea of how neat that place was.




I heart Independence.

Miss Emily's Back to School Survey

Emily

Age: 3
Height: 29 1/4 "
Weight: 35 lbs
Hair color: dirty blonde

Favorites:
Animal: dog

Food: Sah-getti (spaghetti), pepperoni pizza, and cheese pizza

Game: Hi Ho Cherry -O!

Toy: a pretend snake

Thing to do: Play one of my games

Book: The Sleeping Tiger Book (DK Bedtime Peekaboo!)

Color: green and pink and purple and white and brown and black

Movie: Mickey Mouse and Special Agent Oso. And Enchanted too! (finally got a movie in there!)

Song: "Baby, just say yes!" (Taylor Swift "Love Story")

Primary Song: I Lived in Heaven

My best friend is: Ashton and Mason

Other friends I like to play with: Jake and Easton even though

they spray me with water guns

Things I like to do with my friends: Excercise and play with them and ride bikes. (can you tell I send them out the door to "play and get exercise!" haha)

If I had a pet it would be a: dog

named: Belle

What people like about me: "They know my name and know that I am awesome because

I am 3!" (hahaha her exact words)

Things I can do really well: I pretend books are computer and I dance like this *proceeds to shake her booty and shoulders. trust me, it's hilarious!*

This girl had her first day of preschool today. How is that even possible? With her silly personality really pouring out lately, this is how all the recent pictures of her look like.

I love it.

She walked in and knew just what to do. She found her name, hung her backpack up, then went and picked out a puzzle and started playing quietly. (I am hoping that tidy behavior can begin happening more often at home!)

2 Wheels!!

Emily and Gracey LOVE to ride their bikes outside. Gracey has been on just 2 wheels for a while now and Emily has never vocalized a desire to try her bike without training wheels. She's only 3. We don't do "Bicycle Boot Camp" and yell obscenities until their 4th birthday. Just kidding.

Corky and I were both excited to hear her mention it and Corky took the opportunity to take the training wheels off immediately. I held the video camera while Corky did the whole "not letting go" thing. I haven't uploaded the videos yet to my computer or I would post them because it is hilarious. You basically see Emily, like all other kids learning to ride a bike, insist that her bike isn't let go of. Then it is let go, the child realizes it, then falls. She didn't want to try again.


Finally I urge her to come watch the playback on my camera and she can actually see she did it for a split second. So we convince her that that split second was the coolest thing in the world and I tell her to try again as I videotape so she can come watch again. That happened over and over. Get on the bike, watch the video, back on the bike, watch the video, until finally, Emily was zooming up and down the street!


I usually describe Emily as not the outgoing one of my children (did that make any sense?), but since moving here to Kansas, and she has really opened up to trying new things. It makes us so happy and proud!

And of course, here is Gracey. She has been a pro on the bike for a while. Just tonight she showed us her new trick. She gets the bike going, then puts both legs up and rests on the bar. She is dangerous and hilarious.

It's also a special day because Corky turned 31! We love him. A lot. Happy Birthday, old man!

I Heart Independence: The Carrousel

There is a great park here in Independence, and I am talking real great. One of the highlights of the park that my girls have enjoyed is the carrousel. Now that Labor Day has come and gone, the house of operation are quite minimal, but we look forward to regular visits next year.

Get this...only $.05 a ride! There is a city statute that says that price will never rise. The girls love to go up with their nickels and dimes and buy their own tickets and I get to watch them absolutely enjoy themselves for the price of next to nothing!

This carrousel was put together I believe in the summer of 1950! 60 years later, it is still being used and loved! I found some awesome old pictures of the construction. Of course, I am emotionally attached to this place already, so these pictures are really great to see!



I heart Independence.

Lunch with Emily

Little Miss Emily doesn't start preschool until next week, and even when it starts, she will go only twice a week. She is the youngest kid on our street and the only one not in elementary school, so her and I have a lot of time to hang out.

Gracey started school yesterday, giving Em the first real taste of not playing with kids all day. Since moving here, she hangs out with Gracey and all the other kids non-stop. I didn't want her day to suck too bad (is suck a bad word to anyone? I use it regularly) so we drove to Corky's work, about 30 minutes away, to pick him up and go to lunch.

We went to Braum's, my new favorite place, and had a fun time.


Today is our 2nd day of just the two of us and I must say, I am enjoying it more than I thought I would. I was sure that I would struggle keeping her entertained, but so far so good. She is my best little buddy and helps me with everything. I will post a picture or two of our adventures this afternoon making 4 meatloaves!

Miss Gracey's Back to School Survey

Gracey

Favorites:
Food: Ramen Noodles
Game: Chutes and Ladders
Toy: "Pretty much all baby dolls and my kitchen!"
Thing to do: Playing with friends

Book: My princess book. (A large book full of stories of all the Disney princesses)
Color: Pink and Red
Movie: Alice and Wonderland (the new Tim Burton movie)
Song: My Little Pony song
Primary Song: Follow the Prophet

My best friend is: Mason (the new neighbor girl)
Other friends I like to play with: Jake, Easton, Ashton (all of our new next door neighbor kids)
Things I like to do with my friends: Ride bikes and scooters and find mysteries
If I had a pet it would be a: cat

named: Sleeping Beauty
What people like about me: "They like my blond hair and my name. They like that I...ummm...that's pretty much all!"
Things I can do really well: "I ride my bike really well and I do hard work really well. Like, I make my bed every day, and that is hard!"

This little lady had her very first day of Kindergarten and she loved it. She was so excited to be there that after every picture I took she would say, "Bye Mom!"

I wasn't quite ready to leave just yet so I snapped another picture. Once again, "Bye Mom!"

After about four "Bye Mom's" I figured it was time. I sure do love that kid!

1/3 of a year has gone by.

Has it really been that long?

Can you tell that blogging went on the back burner? Not sure if it is really because I went private or if it would have happened anyway. I am promising myself to be better about it in the future. Gracey and Emily start school this week and so I feel I have a fresh re-starting point.

We are in Kansas. We love it. We will miss plenty about Kingman. Our ward, our friends, our house, just to name a few. However, this place feels like home. The community and the neighborhood is seriously what I have wanted for my kids to grow up in. Gracey and Em play with the neighbor kids all day outside. They ride their bikes up and down the street, they have been picking apples off of the trees, and are going to bed way too late. It is likely we won't live here forever of course, but this area has already occupied a piece of my heart. (how cheesy was that?) So what that the temps last week were well over 100 degrees with a humidity of 80%? Okay, so that was awful.

As I promised my sister, I would post something. I have been pretty awful about taking pictures recently. I have done quite a bit of video taping, but that doesn't help the blog much.

Here are a couple of pictures of our AZ departure....

Here are the girls playing "store" among some packed boxes. It was pretty clever.


Here Emily would crawl up to the top bunk, then slide down the mattress. It looked it was burning some good energy from both girls. Over and over and over and over....


This is obviously in front of our house as they were preparing to load the truck. They have to do inventory and let me tell you, it makes you feel like a hoarder. I swear, we are not.




An empty house that has lots and lots of good memories. (I don't remember what Em was doing in this picture)


And finally, the traditional pose-in-front-of-the-house picture. (Gracey played "make up" with her friend right before! Ha!)


This week I will photograph more things as we go around town. I will give you a virtual tour of this charming little community.

Should I be proud of her or embarrassed for me?

While swimming with our girls, I was coaxing Gracey to dive deeper and deeper into the water to get the dive toys. I wanted her to get the toy from a certain deep part that I knew she could do but was a littler nervous about. It was about 5 feet deep. After asking her if she wanted to do it, she said,

"No, no, no! That's too deep!"

My response, "Please? You can do it!"

Gracey says, "Will you give me $50 bucks?"

I start laughing and say that I will give her $.50.

She says, "Okay!" and dives right down and grabs it!

Her and I celebrate this small victory while I am still laughing about her wanting to do it for $50.

Corky swims over to us and I tell him the story. Just as I am telling him, I realize that I just got highballed and tricked by a 5 year old. We were laughing so hard!! $.50 to a 5 year old is gold mine and I totally gave in because she first suggested $50!!!!

She is good. She is very, very good!

In short, the rest of the Easter weekend.

The rest of the weekend consisted of just hanging out.

• There was some easter egg coloring
• Late-night swimming
• Drakey-poo smooching
• sleep deprived children
• and Easter-Basket getting!

Gracey and Emily, the Dog Whisperers!

My step-dad has a new dog. She's a German Shepherd dog, she is (said in my best "Hank" impression for my family) named Zeba. She has been trained really well and is not even a year old yet. Of course, the only reason she will ever listen to me is because my step-dad repeats my command. I am definitely not an alpha in that relationship. Gracey and Emily are another story. Zeba minds them so well. Here is some proof. These pictures only show a portion of it all. By the end of this exercise (or torture for the pup) Zeba had crackers on both paws, her back, all up her nose, and behind her ears. She just stared longingly at Gracey and Emily, waiting for the command of "okay!"

St. George Easter Egg Hunt

Anytime we spend Easter in St. George, we most certainly attend this. It is 30 minutes of waiting around at your designated area. Then a 10 second count-down on a mega-phone. Then it is parents pushing their kids out into the hunt when the count-down gets to about 4! Then it is cheering your child on and encouraging her to pick up as much candy on her own while the parent next to you is loading up candy and dropping it into her own child's bucket. I assure you, it is awesome!!

Did that sound like a complaint?? My bad. We really do love, it is just comical to see some of the parents do the job of a 3 year old, among other 3 year olds. I want to say to those parents, "Go buy a freaking bag of candy at Wal-Mart!!!"

My girls think the egg hunt is the bomb and I truly do enjoy watching them (do it on their own!)! It is a fun tradition that we have done the last couple of Easter Holidays!

Here are some pictures of Emily from the beginning, when Grandma Joyce was giving her instructions, to when she was showing off all her fun stuff!


And here is Gracey! She was a pro!


And if you don't believe me about the parents, look closely at this photo. I wish I would have taken a closer picture, this lady was literally dragging her kid around!


After the Egg Hunt, we went over and held some cute baby chicks. Gracey was all about holding them, Emily only want to barely touch the head as long as I was holding it. They were cute....and so were the baby chicks. Glad they weren't mind though!

Check out the intensity in Em's face!