Ummm... for some reason, I thought it had only been a few weeks since I had written my last blog. But, it has been two months! It's been a fantastic summer. Probably one of the funnest summers I've had since I was a little kid. Before we got Addison, I had been working full time since I was right out of high school, so I really haven't had a "real" summer for a long time. Now that Addison is two and is able to run around and somewhat listen and obey her mother :) I can pretty much take her anywhere and do anything I want. Here is a typical day in the life of the Woodies.... (actually, this IS what we did today, but it really is a typical day for us....) Addison wakes up, does a pee pee in the potty. Puts on Snow White panties. Climbs into our bed and watches Dora while drinking an ice cold baba. Addison is clutching her "didi" (her precious blanket). Daddy goes to work. Daddy calls even though he has only been gone a few minutes. Because he misses his little girl. Face time with Daddy on the iphone. Call Kristin. See if her and Ava want to go to the zoo. They do! Quickly get ready. Do a bit of laundry. Feed the dogs. Give the dogs their bones. Pack Addison's bag. Lots of treats. Head off to the ZOO! Watch the elephant show and look at the "chomps". (crocodiles) Watch the girls climb on the rocks forever. Even though we are at the zoo, they rather dink around on the stupid rocks:) Have pizza. The girls are being exceptionally good, so we let them share a cotton candy. Pack up and head home. Diaper change and get in "comfies". Snuggle in chair with Ad and read books while she has yet another ice cold baba. Still clutching her favorite "didi". Watch Addison throw everything in her crib that she wants to sleep with, which includes plastic crocodiles, plastic snakes, and a stuffed Lady and also Tramp. Addison sleeps for three hours while I get stuff done around the house and shower and get ready. Daddy's home! Off to eat Mac and Cheese at Noodles. Clint takes Addison to Sugar House Park to feed her "tweets" (ducks) and to play on the playground. I go shopping in Sugar House for an hour to pick up some special surprises for Addison and Ava to have while we are on our trip. While driving home someone from the back seat requests a slurpee. We stop at The Surf Shack for snow cones with cream. (even better) Get home. Bathe Addison with a million plastic crocodiles floating around in the water. Watch Addison clean them and take care of them, and then dry them all after her bath. She loves those chomps. Slather lotion, get in jammies... and time to say prayers and read more books and snuggle. Now for the hard part. Putting our Sweet Angel to bed as she is screaming "NO WAY MOMMY! NO WAY MOMMY! NO WAY MOMMY!" Clint goes for a bike ride and then walks the dogs around Rainbow Pointe. Then, off to watch the tube for the rest of the night. It's been a fabulous day. Too much fun!
Too many blessings to count.
Here is a recap of our last two months!
Father's Day with my incredible Dad. Although it was his special day, him and my Mom ended up giving the girlies surprise Disney movies. Oh brother! We gave my Dad a special night out with all of us kids.(without the grandbabies) A drive to the dark side (Provo) with dinner and tickets to an exclusive sneak preview of Eclipse. After we gave this to my Dad, I was on Yahoo and saw a headline for "Worst Father's Day Gifts Ever". Guess what #3 was. Tickets to Eclipse. Sorry Dad.
Ad with her dance teacher, Miss Lauri, at The Dance Company.
Learning to point her toe.
It was family day at dance class. You could invite whoever you wanted from your family to come and watch. Addison invited her special Gamma to come. I love this picture.
Our little ballerina on her favorite day of the week. Thursdays! Dance class day!
Playing at Crestview Elementary School. Auntie Kristin took this picture of Ad with her nice camera. Thanks Snork!
Cute girl with her Daddy on Father's Day! Clint spent Father's Day weekend at the U.S. Open with my Dad and brothers, but they all made it home for a showing of "Toy Story 3" on Saturday, and Father's Day dinner on Sunday. Addison gave her Daddy an awesome University of Utah Bike Jersey. We spent the day going to church, relaxing and hanging out. Addison is still very much a Daddy's girl. In fact, when Daddy is home, Ad wants him to do everything. Daddy has to put her in her car seat, Daddy has to carry her, Daddy has to bathe her, Daddy has to brush her teeth, Daddy has to read her a story. If I try to do anything while Daddy is around, she'll usually say "NO MOMMY!" or sometimes even "Go away Mommy!" This girl loves her Daddy and knows that he is the greatest man ever.
All was quiet in the house. Too quiet. That's when I found this. A little weirdo sitting in the sink with q-tips shoved in her ears and mouth.
Looking at herself out of the corner of her eyes. She thought she was pretty funny and clever. So did I.
Just another lazy summer day chillin' at Gamma and Gampa's pool. Eatin' the "pop-sips". As you can see, as I am screaming "Say Cheese! Look at the Camera!" they both refuse to acknowledge I am even there. These are the best pictures I could get of them.
It wouldn't be summer without getting sprayed with heavily cholorinated water at The Gateway with a bunch of kids running around in their underpants. Actually, I just noticed the kid behind Addison seems to be mooning the camera. Classic. On this fateful night, Addison leaned over one of the sprayers and got a nose full of water, and hasn't wanted to go back since! Oh well. Addison has recently decided she very much hates shopping, so we haven't really gone to The Gateway all that much this summer. Only to pick up our new iphones.
Another night at The Gateway with "Bullseye". The night before, we had taken a trip to The Disney Store with Gamma and Gampa... and they bought her Bullseye and some sweet Tinkerbell fairies. She couldn't even part with her special horse for a few hours to go and eat dinner. She had to show Bullseye around town. When we brought Bullseye home and gave him to Addison... the first thing she did was look up at me and say "Buzz" She already had Jesse, Woody, and now Bullseye. So... uh... where's Buzz? And, like total and utter fools, the next week, we drove all the way out to The Disney Store in Provo again to get her her precious Buzz. Now the set is complete. That certainly shows how much we love our sweet little girl. Having to spend time in Provo twice in one week? Sheer torture.
For those of you who see Addison on a regular basis, you will probably be very surprised to see how long her hair really is! I always have it pulled up because it is so thick and curly, and during the summer she gets so hot and sweaty with it down. Even as a licensed cosmetologist, I have to admit, I really don't know what to do with her hair? It is oh so pretty when we just leave it down and messy and curly. During the Fall and Winter we'll be able to just let it go wild and free. So pretty!
Her summer obsession. The "chomps". She wakes up in the morning and immediately asks to go and see them. These two siamese crocodiles are new to the Hogle Zoo. We were there the first day these crocs were introduced to their living area. They were flailing around and lifting up their heads and blowing their necks out. It was weird. But after seeing that spectacle, my baby became completely enamered and fascinated with these creatures. She runs past all the other animals to get to these chomps. Then she will sit there for a half hour,(she'd stand there all day if I let her) hanging onto that wooden fence, just to catch a glimpse of them. If one of them starts to even move a tiny bit, she'll start screaming "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" I think she is waiting for them to freak out again, like they did the first day she saw them. My baby and her crocs.
Nordstrom had a deeleo where if you spent $50.00 in Brass Plum, you got one ticket to a special sneak preview of Eclipse. This preview was the night before the movie was actually released in theaters, and was only available to those who had shopped at Nordstrom. Snork and I spent enough money between the two of us, to each get three tickets. I have to admit, I wasn't AS excited to see Eclipse as I was to see New Moon, but it was still an awesome evening. Clint stayed home with Addison, pretending he had things to do, but we all know he would gladly spend an evening with our sweet angel, rather than sitting in a theater full of women googling over a sappy love story. We all piled into the car and drove to Provo, ate a tasty dinner at PF Chang, shopped at the University Mall, and then headed to the 9:00 p.m. showing of Eclipse with diet coke, popcorn, nibs, and m&m's in hand. I believe that there were three men in the theater, and Stuart and my Dad were two of them. The movie certainly delivered. Can't wait for the next one! This picture is of us after the show at midnight... showing our special lanyards.
This baby is definitely into picking certain toys and stuffed animals to "sleep with her" for her nap and at night. Usually her crib is full of odds and ends and toys she has chosen throughout the day to join her in her slumber. For a couple of weeks, all she wanted to sleep with is her Toy Story characters. Nothing like snuggling up to a hard plastic Buzz Lightyear.
SHE DID IT!!!!! A PEE PEE IN THE POTTY!!!!! We have not forced the potty issue at all with Addison, because I do not feel like she is totally ready for it yet. But, one night, we got home and she asked to go pee pee. She just sat down and did it! We are very proud of her!
But... uh oh... we made the mistake of giving her a mouth-watering starburst candy after her first potty success... and then for quite a while, she would sit on her potty for hours, just waiting for something to come out, so she could get her treat. But, we are past that phase now. She still wears a diaper, but in the morning right when she wakes up, and at night before her bath, she will go potty by herself. She's even done several #2's on there too. So awesome! Way to go Ad! (nothing like having your Mom tell everyone about your bowel movements)
Annual Evergreen 4th of July parade! It's a fun tradition. Just one of the great perks of living in Holladay. The parade is pretty lame, but people do come by and throw candy at you. That's about the only cool thing. The breakfast they serve is very tasty, and they always have fun games for kids. This year they had several bouncy houses that Ava and Addison played on.
Waiting for the parade to start. Playin' with Buzz and Bullseye. Can't believe these two are sitting so close together, with toys, and they aren't fighting! Amazing! Our sweet girlies.
The best part about it, is being with my best friends. My family. It is such a blessing to live so close to my parents and Stu and Kristin. We all live in the same Stake now! Our family is close and strong and we see each other very often. It is so awesome to be able to walk to each others houses within a matter of minutes. We miss our Graham, and although we admire him for being different and being motivated to work in New York, we want him back:)
The breakfast and games were fun, but as we were leaving, some warbler lady was belting out all three verses of the Star Spangled Banner. Although the warbling was painful to listen to, my heart was still full and tears came to my eyes as I thought of the incredible country we live in. Yes, it has problems. But, once again, I have been to a 3rd world country... where the government is unstable, and there is only poverty and selfishness and corruption. We live in THE best country in the world, and I can't belive how blessed I am to live where I do and to raise my family the way I want to with freedom and rights and dreams.
Trip to the zoo with Daddy. A special treat to have him come along!
Eleven years ago, this incredible man you see in this picture (my Dad) started a charity foundation called Smiles for Life. Over the past 11 years, dentists around the world have whitened their patients' teeth and donated 100% of the money to children's charities. It is a very unique charity, in that ALL of they money goes to children's charities. Smiles for Life has successfully raised over 26 million dollars in the past eleven years. And that's because of my Dad and his mad skills in running the Crown Council and keeping this charity going and going.
Over the past 4 years, Clint's office has participated in this whitening campaign, and just in his little office alone, his team has raised and donated over $50,000 to Smiles for Life. Most of the money raised is given to Teammates for Kids, which is Garth Brooks charity. Garth in turn picks over 300 charities a year to spread the money out too. And twice a year, Garth puts on a huge party to thank those who donate to his charity. Long story short, once again,(I have been to several, cause I'm lucky) I got to attend one of these great Garth parties with my Dad, Stu, Kristin, and some of our Crown Council doctors. My Mom was supposed to go, but she most generously gave her ticket to me! Thanks MOM!!! It was an amazing weekend in Vegas at the new Wynn hotel. Amazing to have my own giant hotel room all to myself! Amazing to have my airline tickets, my hotel, and all my meals paid for. Amazing to have my Dad sponsor a girls morning at a luxurious spa. Amazing to see another spectacular showing of Cirque de Soleil's "O". Amazing to shop and eat and stay out until 2 in the morning just because. Amazing to be with great company and great people... especially my family... and especially the GB. aka. Garth.
Most everyone in our group. Starting from the left... Bill Dorfman and his nephew, Guy and Kate Gross, Stu and Kristin, my Dad and Brian and Maury Harris. Eating buffet style at a reception at the Wynn.
Don't look too close...
Entry way to the Wynn...
Us mommies without our girlies. Whatever are we to do? :)
"GB SQUARED"
This is what Garth whispered into my Dad's ear right before this photo was taken. Coolest pic ever, by the way. And, coolest thing Garth has ever said. Both my Dad and Garth have the same initials. Hence the comment... GB SQUARED. A phrase that will forever be repeated and remembered in our family.
Please people. Please. Do not make fun of me in this picture. I had just come from the spa, where I received my first (and come to think of it... probably last) mist on tan. Yes, I know it's bad. And, it turned my clothes and underwear bright orange. And the orange didn't come out after several washes. I finally make it into some pictures, and this is what I look like. Jersey Shore.
Anyway, at least Garth was wearing his "no pressure" scuba t-shirt and MC Hammer stretchy pants. I love this man. Garth is the sweetest and the kindest. He is so genuine and present when you talk to him. He called me by name and asked me about my sweet baby. He immediately asked to see pictures of her. This soft spoken, kind gentleman has billions of dollars and has been crowned the entertainer of the century, yet he still remembers me and my family and will sit and chat with us like we're his best buddies. Garth... you are one-of-a kind! We love you and love all the good you are doing for kids around the world!
Bad decision. Very bad. Kristin and I were talking to one of our taxi cab drivers in Vegas, and she told us of an amazing "Disney Store" at the Outlet Mall! COOL! We wanted to get our girlies a special surprise, so we all hopped into a dirty taxi and were on our way in rush hour traffic on the strip to the outlet malls. Gregor spent $25 dollars on our taxi ride. We got to this "outlet mall" and there was no Disney store to be found. We wandered around aimlessly until we finally asked someone where it was. We walked through the entire mall, and then through a parking lot to get there. Mind you, it was 112 degrees in Vegas. We finally got to the "Disney Store"... sweaty and hot... only to find out that it was the biggest piece of garbage store ever on the face of this earth. It was filled with trashy discontinued disney memorabilia that had been off the market for years and years. We couldn't even find one thing that we could spend our money on, just to buy something so the trip out there wasn't the biggest waste of time ever. So, we headed back out into the oven and tried to find a cab. But we couldn't. Stu and Gregor stood outside melting in the heat to find one. Alas, $50 in taxi cab fare and a wasted 1 1/2 hours later... we arrived at the Wynn, mad that we had decided to once again, take the advice of a taxi cab driver. Never again!
On our last night, we attended a yummy dinner and an auction, followed by a private concert by Garth and his band. The auction consisted of mostly sports memorabilia and all the money raised goes to help Teammates for Kids run their charity. All of the Teammates for Kids professional ball players were there with their wives. I don't follow professional baseball or hockey all that much, but it's still fun to be there with all the players. I'm excited for the day Teammates signs some professional basketball players! The auction went on and on and on... and so Garth didn't actually even start performing until about 11:30 p.m. Another late night!
Bishop Gregor and two cute girls from his ward. Lisa and Heather joined us for our weekend in Vegas. They were an absolute pleasure to be around!
And the thunder rolls....
Addison spent the morning with Ava and saw her with her binkie. When we got home, Addison kept asking for her "gonkey". It took me forever to figure out that she was wanting a binkie (just like Ava, of course). Addison hasn't ever really taken a binkie, but we did find one "gonkey" in the back of a drawer. She insisted on having it the rest of the day.
She was walking out of her playroom with an armful of about 10 stuffed animals. I limited her to three. After much contemplation, she decided on bringing Lady, gray dog, and turtle.
Morning snuggle with Bolt and Tess. Don't tell Daddy Tess is on the bed! He doesn't like the dogs to get up on the bed, but I let them while he is at work. Yes, I am a pushover:) Sweet Tessy likes to cuddle.
Clint and I both got the new iphone. It now has a special feature where you can press a button and it flips the camera lens around, so you can actually see yourself when you take a picture. Addison quickly figured out how to do this (without us even showing her). Usually every day, I will find dozens of pictures that Addison has taken of herself. She took these of herself while riding around in the car, unbeknownst to me of course, until later in the day when I found them on my phone.
Gamma and Gampa let us borrow their "Lady and The Tramp" DVD. Addison has been obsessed with watching it. Here she is in her "comfies", and with Lady... eating her puffs while she is mesmorized by Lady and the "Tamp".
At the pool with Lady, her special Jesse shirt and a BIG GIRL BRAID!
When Addison wants me to braid her hair, she says "Yee haw Mommy! Yee haw Mommy!"
I ran downstairs to put in a load of laundry while Addison was eating lunch. I came back upstairs and she had made herself a grape sandwich.
Kristin's birthday! I'm sure Kristin will be aaaaaannnnnnngry that I posted this picture of her, but I think she looks awesome with her make shift do rag on. Her and Stuie were moving into their new house on this day, and she had been working and painting all day. (on her birthday) Addison couldn't wait to give her Kristin her birthday gifts, and sing Happy Birthday. Ad loves her "Tristin". Every morning she'll bring the phone to me and say "Tristin please Mamma. Tristin please Mamma." She wants me to call Kristin and make plans for the day so we can hang out with "Tristin" and "Eba". Addison even had her first sleepover a few weeks ago at their new house. They even set up a special room just for her. It was so sweet and Ad had the best time!
Getting ready for dance by striking a saturday night fever pose with Bolt. Amy gave Addison this beautiful skirted leotard! It is so cute with it's ruffled sleeves and sweet netted skirt. Addison loves it. It was so thoughtful of Amy to give it to her... just for no reason at all! Aim always spoils us.
In the dressing room at dance class.
One of Addison's newest favorites is the Elephant Show and the Bird Show at the Hogle Zoo. At the end of the bird show, you can walk down and give some birds money and the birds will actually take it out of your hand and put it in a donation box. For the entire half hour show, Addison will sit there holding her money, just getting ready to go down and hand it to the birds.
Addison has been very vocal about asking to ride her "Sparky" pony at Gardner Village. She has been asking several times a week to ride her "yee haw". Like I have said before, I swear this girl was meant to be born on a farm. She absolutely loves every animal on the planet, and loves to take care of them. When she gets a little bigger, I am thinking about starting her in riding lessons at the equestrian park. I think she would love it! Either that, or we need to buy a farm and get some horses:)
In these pictures she is riding Sparky, but she also has ridden George, Pal, and Lucy too. It's sad I know all the horses names.
Petting an emu at the petting zoo with Daddy. (at least that's what I think it is?)
A rare picture with Mommy! On the bridge at Gardner Village. Look at Addison's pretty curly hair.
Ad getting her face painted at The Farmers Market downtown. We have been going there every Saturday morning! Addison loves it. It is so much fun to watch her while we are there. We just follow her around and let her do her own thing. She stops to pet every single dog, she stops to listen to every single person playing music, she'll point to what foods she wants and she'll also do some hula hooping. We eat pastries and bratworsts and people watch. We also buy fresh veggies and fruits... and even meat while we are there. We'll be so sad when winter comes!
Our princess getting her nails painted at Fashion Place Mall. Clint has taken her there a few times to get her nails painted, and so now whenever we go there, she makes a mad dash for the nail place. It only takes a few minutes, and she enjoys picking out a fun new color each time. Oh this baby is spoiled.
This night happened to be the day before my parent's 37th Wedding Anniversary! We went to dinner at Corner Bakery and then walked the mall. And, of course, Ad had to get her nails done while we were there.
Brave girl going down the big slide at the Murray Aquatic Park! She kept begging Daddy to go down it again and again!
I still have some pictures from the last few weeks to post! I will try to get them posted before we head off for the Dominican Republic next week! We are very busy getting ready for our trip. I honestly can't believe how unbelievably difficult it is to go out of town for 2 weeks. Calling the cell phone company, getting insurance, writing a current will, finding someone to watch the house, finding someone to sub for primary, paying all bills, laundry, getting our shots, getting prescriptions filled, cleaning the house.... and of course shopping and packing! Even with the difficulty of heading out of town, and the extreme difficulty of leaving our sweet baby and our pets... we are very excited to go on our dental humanitarian trip. I always feel like we are not the ones serving. I feel like the people of the dominican serve us more than we could ever serve them. This trip is for me to remember how blessed I am, to make friends, and to create memories. Although it will be exhausting, I am looking forward to it... and I am also looking forward to what is happening when we get back! MY MOST FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR! Trips to the Utah State Fair... and a trip to Yellowstone! I can't wait for the most magical time of year. My favorite time of year. Utah Football games, crisp apples, Halloween costumes, candy, Gardner Village, changing leaves, General Conference... and the smell of Fall. The smell of change. I love every new season. It's a time to make changes and to enjoy something new. Can't wait for summer to end and for the next phase of our lives to start!
