Little Sahara

A few weeks ago we went camping at the sand dunes, or Little Sahara. When my brother first suggested the dunes I thought it sounded dreadful. I don’t like the desert much, or the heat, or the blazing sun when there is no place to get a little shade. I had images of starving people struggling through vast rolling deserts through biting winds.

Well, to my absolute delight, it was not what I expected. There were trees, the weather was perfect (quite cool with scattered showers) and the sand was so wonderful we walked barefoot through camp the entire time. Heaven!!! As we sat around the campfire I kept burying my feet into the sand and then letting it seep through my toes. It really felt more like the beach than a desert.

In the middle of the night I couldn’t sleep so I got out of the tent and was standing near the fire pit for a while when all of a sudden I saw a small movement right next to my leg. I glanced down and was startled to see this smallish animal. I jumped and it scampered away a little, but not far. I realized it was a coyote. It was either really small or a baby. It watched me for a second and then scampered around the campsite for a while before running off. It was so awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to a wild animal before.


Found some soldiers that got left behind.
Grace had fun in the rain.
Everyone had a blast jumping off some of the dunes.

I was surprised that all the kids could climb so well. And they kept up with us really well too!



Here we all are heading out. We all wished we could stay longer, and I definitely want to go back again!

Ready, Set, Go!

So right now we’re working on the “ready” part. Ready for school, that is. Grace in enrolled in Head Start. We love it. Her teacher comes to our house once a week, and then a few times a month we go to Socialization at the Head Start facility with all the other kids enrolled in the Home Based program.

She got to finger paint during on of our home visits. I love it that she dives into her art up to her elbows!

Chick Magnet

Bat Girl Grace

Grace’s aunt, Tasha, is taking a photography class. She asked if she could come over and take a picture of Grace. So I got her dressed up cute and fancy. When Tasha came over she had a prop with her. Introducing Bat Girl Grace. I whipped out my camera and couldn’t get enough.

3 Months

Jacob is growing up too fast. He is so alert. He loves to coo and talk to us. It always seems like he is trying to tell us something.
He loves to be a part of everything that is going on. From the very beginning Ricky and I thought he seemed a lot older than he was.
I am completely in love with him. He lets me cuddle him as tight and as much as I want. He smiles at me and melts my heart. He has such a sweet personality already. He’s just amazing.

Ballet!!!

Grace has started to take ballet classes! We are all so excited! She’s gone twice now. Her class is held every Tuesday here in Stansbury. I really like it that it is so close.
Grace really likes the other girls who are now all her “friends” even though she doesn’t know any of their names. She likes looking at herself in the huge mirrors no matter where she is in the studio. She likes hanging on the barre. She likes her ballet clothes, especially her “ballerina tard thing.” She like the frilly bracelet she gets to wear and the ballet stamps she gets on her hand after each class.
She is really a creative dancer. Not to mention the cutest ballerina I've ever seen. (I know, I know. I'm her mom so I'm predisposed to think that...)
Her teacher is a woman from our ward, actually. Miss Sarah. I absolutely love her! She is the happiest person I know. She has this incredible smile that just lights up everything around her. And she is amazing with the girls. She gets down on the girls’ level to talk to them. She is super bubbly with them. She’s everything a battle teacher should be. And then some. I love it! I love it! I love it!
Grace dances circles around all the other girls in her class. Literally. But I’m not sure this is a good thing. Sarah will be crouched around the girls in the circle explaining something to them and Grace is just running around them by herself. Hmmm… We’ll have to work on her paying-attention and following-instruction skills. But she still loves going. And she hates to leave.

Jumpin' Jake

I put Jacob in the jumper the other day. He really liked it… for a while.