Another one Bites the Dust...

Another tooth that is!

Last night Cali's fourth loose tooth fell out. It was a little late for the tooth fairy to get her stuff together, so we put it on her dresser for tonight. She was so excited to show Carter this morning, that the tiny tooth fell out of her hands and into the carpet. Good news...she and Carter managed to dig around in the carpet long enough to retrieve the tooth.

Bad news...after she lost it {and found it} the first time, she lost it again. There was much crying and sobbing and this wasn't really how I wanted to start the morning. We all crawled around on the floor for about a half hour, then had to resign ourselves to the fact that we will never see this tooth again.

Not to worry, she penned a very heartfelt note to the tooth fairy, "Dear tooth fairy. I lost my tooth Friday July 31, 2009 before I got the money....Love Cali" That should be enough for the tooth fairy to throw in a couple extra quarters...don't you think?

Song and Dance Camp

Last night was Cali's song and dance camp performance. She participated in three summer camps through the college this summer, and this was her final one. For the past two weeks she's been practicing and learning new songs and dances. She loved every second of it. She also loved that some of her friends from school and church were in the class too!

I didn't get very many good pictures, because she was on the back row and the sun was shining through the windows of the atrium. But, here she is dancing away!

Another attempt to get a photo of her in action.

They served cookies, cake, and punch afterwards, and Cali was more than happy to spend some time with her friends Kenady and Leisel. I must say thank you to Jesika, Mary, Judy, and Maggie for helping get Cali to and from camp each day. She had such a great time!

Wildcats Everywhere

One of Cali's cute little friends gave her this 300 piece HSM puzzle for her birthday. We opened it up on Sunday night and started sorting the straight frame edges from the rest of the puzzle in an attempt to put it together. Christian was watching the end of a movie, and it wasn't quite time to go to bed, so Cali, Carter and I dug in.

After getting all the pieces sorted Cali and I started working on the edges {all blue and harder than it looks} and Carter started piecing together Chad's face {he is VERY good at puzzles}. We had been working on it for about 20 minutes when the movie ended and Christian joined us. We were officially, "all in this together". After Cali realized how hard the plain blue pieces were, and Carter had successfully completed Chad's face {and hair} they slowly lost interest.

Before I knew it, the kids were on the couch watching TV and Christian and I were left to finish the puzzle. We were both determined NOT to let this seemingly cute puzzle get the best of us. Christian and I exchanged phrases like, "Is this a piece of Gabriella? "Is this a point to that star?" "Here's some of Ryan's background." and "Get out of my light!" The kids were nearly dozing on the couch by the time we successfully completed the puzzle. Carter gained just enough interest to put the last two pieces together.

High fives all around! Stunned by the amount of time that had elapsed, and by the intensity at which we had worked, Christian and I both looked at each other thinking...."did that just happen?" Did we really spend nearly and hour and a half of our lives on this? It's true...we did, and we were so proud! The kids...they thought it was OK too!

Then and Now

I took this picture of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple construction in January 2008. Our house was just a few miles away and we shopped at The District, so we got to see many of the construction phases. I took this picture for my mom and a talk she was giving about temples at the time.

I think the contrast between the building and the finished product is very interesting. Not unlike all the changes we've had in our life over the past few years as well!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

On Saturday afternoon we had tickets to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was a neat experience to walk through the temple with the kids. Cali was especially excited because this temple wasn't far from our old house. During the construction of the temple, all of the primary kids in the stake received a framed picture of this temple. She loved driving by the construction site and always told me that she was going to get to go inside it someday. Well, that day was Saturday!

Here are a few pictures of the kids after the tour. Carter especially liked the fountain, and would've been content to play in it all day.

Here's the rest of our tour group. Christian, Cali, Carter and I got on the 3:30 p.m. tour, but the rest of our group was running a little late. We were able to meet up with them after their tour for this lovely photo!

Carter Style

After our tour of the Quirrh Mountain temple Carter was ready for a break. He did pretty well throughout most it, but it was a lot of walking and no one would let him play in the baptismal font water. It's a hard life. Thankfully there were cookies and water at the end. Carter grabbed his cookie and plopped down on the floor right in front of this beautiful picture. He was unaware that people were walking by trying to take in the spirit of the painting...So, please enjoy this stirring photo of "Coming Unto Christ...Carter Style".

A Birthday...That Wasn't Cali's

Happy first birthday to my only and BEST nephew, Parker!

The Final Birthday Extravaganza

This past weekend we were able to celebrate Cali's birthday with the Pollastro's. Brittany made her this fancy traditional Swedish cake, it was sooooooooo good and so green. We loved it!

Presents galore. Even some fake nails...Cali's dream come true!

Grandma Vicki always picks out the cutest outfits and gets Cali stylin' for summer and school! Thank you for all the wonderful gifts.

Cha Ching! Thank you Grandpa Gus!

More Birthday Love

The face of a very happy birthday girl! Carter gave Cali some Melissa and Doug magnet dolls, she was obviously overjoyed!

What six year old doesn't love HSM 1,2, and 3? Carter picked this card for Cali, and she HAD to have her picture taken with it.

Her very own CD player!

A little help!

The Main Event

This year we had a birthday party for Cali at the splash park in Green River. There was splashing, playing, a treasure hunt, ice cream, and presents! Cali had the best time with all of her friends!

Many Changes

Yesterday was Cali's birthday and I've had fun looking back over the years to see how much she's changed. I can't even imagine what changes she'll undergo in the next six years of her life. Please help! Where does the time go? Yesterday she said to me, "Thank you for even having me so that I could have a birthday party!" She also told me that of all the people at her birthday party I was, "her best guest!"

Who Had More Fun?

So, here's a question...While participating in the Lamb Day festivities, who had more fun? Was it Carter playing the "fishing game" for 20 minutes...resulting in many Oriental Trading Company prizes?

Was it Carter going down the inflatable slide over and over and over again?

Was it Cali perfecting her inflatable slide skills?

Was it Cali and Carter together taking a ride on the Sheeper Creeper?

Or was it Brandt, who waited in line to ride the mechanical bull for nearly an hour, and then proceeded to give it his best Lane Frost 8 Seconds impersonation?

You decide!

Fountain Green Cemetary

Last weekend while we were in Fountain Green I was finally able to see my grandparent's headstone. It was finished just before Memorial Day this year. My grandpa died in 2006, and my grandma struggled to make a decision on what she wanted the headstone to look like. So, for almost 2 years the grave was marked with just a small marker and some flowers.

After my grandma passed away in 2008 my mom and her brothers began the painstaking process of picking and designing a headstone. They went back and forth with the engraving company sending faxes and redesigns, until they came up with this beautiful finished product.

My grandma wanted the same type and color of stone she picked for her mother's grave. While cleaning out some of my grandma's things, my mom found a Thanksgiving card with pictures of wheat and leaves on it, which became the inspiration for the engravings on the stone. Both of my grandparents loved to read, and my grandma always told us to live our lives like an open book. I think it came together very beautifully, they would both love it very much.

My {Almost} Six Year Old

While we were in Fountain Green my mom put together a little birthday party for Cali. Her birthday is tomorrow, but with so many family members spread so far apart...sometimes the party starts early! As a fellow summer birthday child, my grandma threw many little parties for me at the same house and even the same table. I wish I had some of my photos handy to show the similarities through the years. It was a special day for everyone!

Lamb Day Parade 2009

On Saturday we spent the day in Fountain Green at the annual Lamb Day celebration. We've been nearly every year since I was a kid, and have so many great memories of parades, games, cousins and slip n slide at my grandma and grandpa's house.

Lamb Day is extra special to my parents because it's where they first met. Picture this...my future mother {the Lamb Day Queen} selling candy bars at the Lamb Day dance. My future father visiting a friend who had moved from Castle Dale to Fountain Green, trolling the dance for hot babes. He becomes hungry, and decides to purchase a candy bar...their eyes meet...sparks fly...emotions run high...{or something like that}. They leave the dance together and go to my future grandparents house to play pool. Over the years they keep in touch through letters and occasional visits. Then there was the jr. prom controversy...it's best not to mention it...Years later they reunited via letters while my dad was on his mission, and the rest is pretty much history...or legend...depending on who's telling the story.

So, here are some of our Lamb Day memories from this year!

Here's the Lamb Day queen 35 years later with Tyler and Cali.

It took a few minutes, but Cali soon caught the spirit of candy catching. We came home with WAY more than our share of salt water taffy. She is a very polite candy grabber and shared with the kids in the surrounding lawn chairs. A stark contrast to the elbowing and shoving we engaged in as children.

Carter enjoyed waving at the ladies {pretty ones}. Grandpa Neal showed him how to get their attention and he even got some kisses blown right to him! He would ONLY catch Tootsie Rolls, and saw no need to run into the road for candy he didn't like. Half way through the parade he asked, "So are there going to be more pretty ones...or not?"

Bethany tried to coach him into the road, but he was just happy to sip on an otter pop.

And in true Brandt fashion, he jumped on the back of the first flat bed truck in sight, and waved to the crowd on his own make shift float.

Non Stop

We've been having a very fun and busy summer. This past weekend was no exception. We went to SLC on Friday morning for my doctor's appointment. We wished that Christian could have come with us, but he had to go with the scouts on a camp out.

All went well with my appointment except for the fact that I'm 24 weeks, and measure 28 weeks. So, I'm either having a baby four weeks early {not sure if that's a good thing} or I'm having a giant baby... We shall see, only time will tell!

After the doctor extravaganza we went shopping with Vicki, Melissa, and Parker. We spent a lot of time in Toys R Us and the South Towne Mall. After we were shopped out {see pictures}, we went to Johnny Carino's for a late birthday dinner. We had a great time, but we weren't done there. After dinner we went to Fountain Green to spend the night with my mom, dad, and Brandt. We stayed in my grandma and grandpa's house, which was not that much fun without them there. We got up the next morning and participated in the Lamb Day festivities...posts and pictures to come...