Gotta pack it in.

Some of you may know that Bry and I are big into planning. We think it's pretty cool that if we spiritually create something first the realization of it is much more likely to come about and that we're able to do so many more meaningful things. Now that we know our time in Provo is limited, we're even MORE into planning! In any case, last weekend was packed full of family and friend :0)

Bry dropped Brie and I off at Rach's place in Mill Creek on his way to work. It's always great to spend time with her...and Brie loves her Aunt Rachie!

Next we were off to one of mission companion's place in Sugar House, Meghan (Alexander) Beutler. I warned her that we really were only staying for the afternoon, although ALL of our stuff said otherwise. (It doesn't matter if we're away from home for a few hours or a few days...there is always LOTS of stuff that accompanies Brie :0)) It was so fun to just hang out, chat, watch Brie & Emory play and catch up a bit. And they were so wonderful to help us feel at home...they told me from the beginning that Brie would be their "baby proofing" guinea pig. That made me feel better when Brie was getting into everything!


Cute Emory and Brie playing together.
(This was my first time meeting their adorable little boy.
I can't believe he's six months already!)

Jon, Meghan's husband, is into photography and was SO nice to take some family pictures for us....especially since it was COLD and WINDY! But I think eating warm triple chocolate ghiradelli brownies when we got back made up for ALL of the crummy weather :0)





That night we stayed at Grandpa & Grandma Stevenson's in Holladay. That's always a treat. It feels like home...without the normal responsibilities!

Saturday morning Grandma and I headed to Temple Square where we met up with Beth, Julie and Heather to do a session together. (It was so neat to be there with my sweet sisters-in-law and Grandma AND I even bumped into Meghan & Jon in the Celestial room.) I'm so grateful for a husband who is always willing to help out with Brie so I can do projects, errands, Recipe Swappers, photo shoots, get togethers and so on.


We all headed back to Grandma's for lunch (potato bar, Irish soda bread and chocolate banana bars). The girls left after lunch and Bry, Brie and I spent a nice & relaxed afternoon at their house. By the time Brie's nap came around we were all ready for a rest.

I LOVE the view of the SLC Valley from their front room and the way the sun streams in through their windows, especially around sunset. Beautiful.

Cute G&G Stevenson--
about to head out for Libby's dance competition.
They SURE are wonderful!

Grandma helped arrange for a babysitter so once Brie was in bed, Bry and I headed to downtown for a wedding celebration for another mission companion, Amy Nuffer Cannon, and her husband. (They were married in November in Portland and since a lot of their friends weren't able to make it they threw another party here in Utah. Great idea.)



For their wedding present I of course had to do something with pictures. So I found a cute frame and used a few of their pictures off of Facebook to print out and put into the frame. We also gave them a little gratitude journal (We have loved having the tradition of jotting down some of our blessings each day in ours).

And there you have it...What a GREAT weekend!
Thank you Rach, Meghan & Jon, and Gpa & Gma for accommodating us!

Patty O' Furniture :0)

Here are a few pics from St. Patty's Day.



I ended up decorating the day of...I've never gotten into St. Patrick's Day before, but this year I thought it'd be fun to make things a little festive.



Thanks to some recipes from Recipe Swappers,
I ended up making the following (to get the recipes click here)...

I had A LOT of corned beef and cabbage so Brie and I
strolled over to Grandpa & Grandma Robertson's for lunch.

(Check out Brie's body language---arms close to her sides, hands in fists---she does this when she is shy or nervous. It always takes her a few minutes to warm up with people she hasn't seen for awhile.)

Lunch at Gramps & Teddy Grahams was the highlight of my day. I'm excited for warmer weather when Brie and I can take more strolls to visit them. Gotta soak it up while we can.

**Don't ask me why, but several years ago Rach and I started using Patty O' Furniture as a nickname. Gotta love the randomness :0) **

Our "mission call" is here :0)

It's official... Bry has accepted an offer from Wash U (for their PhD program in accounting), so we'll be moving out to St. Louis this Summer! It wasn't originally one of our top picks, but as the offer came along it felt right and where we needed to be...and we're really excited for this new season of our lives! It feels like we've received a mission call :0)


We'll DEFINITELY be sad to leave Provo and our dear family and friends, mais c'est la vie. And there is always Skype, email, Facebook, blogs, etc. If you have any connections with or advice about St. Louis, let us know!

A few of Brie's favorite things...

I did a little photo shoot of Brie on St. Patrick's Day and was happy to capture some of her current favorites on film...

Opening bags--putting things in and taking things out. Flipping through books. Playing with phones, "hi!" Carrying things around from one room to the next. Looking out the window.

No spoon required.

How do you eat YOUR yogurt?...


Do you dig in?...


...and get it all over your face?! :0)


Love that toothy grin.


As many of you may know Brie can shovel the food! Sometimes I swear she eats more than we do. However, this last month she had a spell where she was being super picky. I don't know if it was from being sick or what, but I definitely developed more empathy for you parents who deal with fussy eaters on a regular basis! One night Bry was home for dinner (that is a rare moment!) and asked if maybe she wanted to feed herself. He handed her a baby spoon and lo and behold, she started spooning the food into her mouth. When the bowl was almost empty she lifted it up and "drank" out the rest of the contents. Now where she learned that, I don't know. I never do that ;0) In any case, for the last few days we have let her "feed" herself more often than not and she has been a lot more content. The only catch is the mess that she leaves! Great moments to snag on film, but the clean up is less than desirable. Any solutions?


** I still have a lot to learn about my new lens (35mm f1.8) but I am loving it! I am FINALLY able to get the look I want straight from the camera, instead of spending a bunch of time after in Photoshop. YAY! I LOVE that the lens allows you to really focus in on one thing while softly blurring out the rest. And I LOVE how much light it lets in! Money well spent. **

From our Lil Leprechaun to Yours.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


A little list o' Irish proverbs...

• A good beginning is half the work.
• You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.
• Many hands make light work.
• It's no use boiling your cabbage twice.
• An old broom knows the dirty corners best.
• The windy day is not the day for thatching.
• It takes time to build castles.
• Your feet will bring you to where your heart is.
• If the cap doesn't fit, don't wear it.

(To see more Irish Proverbs)

A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medecine go Down.

This last month has been a challenging one for us. Sicknesses=ZERO fun! It's been hard watching Brie be sick :0( Diarrhea, diaper rashes, throwing up, sneezy, stuffy/runny nose, ear infections. Yuck! After a miserable weekend with very little normal sleep (and Bry and I sleeping on a twin size mattress in our living room) I finally took her in last Monday and found out that she had pretty good ear infections going on. Poor girl! But thank heavens for Anti-biotics...What do they put in that pink stuff? Brie LOVES it!!! Anyway, other than an occasional cough she is doing SO much better which makes us ALL happy!

**I have to say though, just like with anything else, there were blessings that came from this challenging month. To list a few....Brie was a lot more snuggly. I was reminded several times of what a wonderful and helpful husband I have. And, I value a good night's sleep & good health even more**

That was under there?

Yes, gross as it is...that was under there! Booster chair + sporatic cleaning = caked on food. Do you have similar equations at YOUR house? :0)

Long Time Buddies.

5 March 2010--Becky Jeffrey Griffiths had us over for lunch at her cute new house. We had chicken salad sandwiches and a delicious cheesy roasted red pepper soup. Yum! We missed all of you who would have come if you could have, but are too far away! Sometime we'll all be together again in the same city. In any case, thank Heavens for wonderful friends.

What blog is this?

I decided it was time for a little change. I must admit that I love when my favorite bloggers change their blog according to the season. It may seem trivial...it may BE trivial, but hey...we all need a little change from time to time :0) So maybe I'll get around to doing the same for ours. Here's to Spring!

Seeing the World through her Eyes.

The other day I was sitting at the computer when Brie took my hand and put a ball in it. This is her latest way of letting me know that she wants me for something. How patient she can be with her often preoccupied mom. I turned the chair around to play with her and she walked over to the door (that leads into the office) and tapped on it with hand. She was letting me know that she wanted to go out of our apartment so I opened the door and followed her as she walked through the office around the corner and up the stairs. When we got to the entry she walked over to my Parents' front door and reached for the doorknob. I opened it and she backed herself off of the step, lifted herself up to standing and walked over to the edge of the porch. And there she stood and took it all in...she was mesmerized by the chirping birds and the cars passing by. She must have been thinking, "Mom I've been here on Earth for over a year and have barely seen anything of it!" :0) In any case, it was the cutest little chain of events, and it makes me even more excited for warm weather! I'm excited to rediscover the World through her eyes.

Later that afternoon we went out a few more times so I could snap some pictures of Brie enjoying the Earth....and some saltine crackers :0)

Here she is people watching. She was so taken with all the neighbor kids riding bikes and trikes and four wheelers.

Eating saltines...her favorites as of late.

Discovering dirt for the first time.


Eating fishies cause they're so delishy!


Climbing the stairs outside of our apartment. She has learned how to climb DOWN as well. Yay! That makes me feel a lot safer.

This is such a fun age! Other than Brie being sick off and on this last month :0( we have really been enjoying this phase of life. She's walking all over the place. She can go up and down stairs and even "celebrates" when she gets to the bottom by clapping and saying, "yay!" She points to things when she wants them and then does a body nod (it's like she's nodding yes, but with her whole body) to let us know that it's what she wants :0) She is starting to learn her animal sounds and is stuck on the "Mmooooo." She'll moo as she carries around her animal toys or books about animals...and sometimes she'll just moooo randomly. It's great :0) She has started saying, "Dank you" and generally is much more communicative. It's so fun to see her have a greater ability to let us know what she wants. She is great at giving kisses and even will give an occasional snuggle or hug to a lucky recipient. Overall she's so smiley and happy and a joy to be around. We sure love you Brie! We're excited for you to be feeling better again...SOON!!!!

"There's a party going on!"

Just a little update on my Sunday School class Sticker System...it's going well! It's been really fun to see as our monthly squares fill up as we work on our goals. Some of us have some room for improvement (me being one of those someones :0)), but so far so good.

My favorite was last week when one of my students smiled, pointed to her square and giggled as she said...

"there's a party going on!"

Too funny :0) I'm glad they're getting a kick out of the stickers! I know that this system has definitely helped me be more accountable for my goals. As much as I enjoy stickers...that's not what's driving me. Sorry folks :0) But how can I expect them to make progress when I'm not, ya know?

**For those of you who are looking at what seem to be fractions and thinking that 7/50 or 9/60 is NOT so great...it is just the personal goal/class goal for the month. We each have a personal goal we're trying to achieve and while working toward that goal we are indirectly contributing to the class goal. Just wanted to clarify that :0)

Our Snuggle Bug.

THANKS----->Elaine for the ADORABLE
pink polka dot rain coat

&

THANKS ------> Em for the CUTE
and snuggly hat.


Love 'em both! :0)

Meet the Moving Crew.

6 men, 5 women, 4 kids, 1 toddler
and 2 "babies"... give or take a few :0)

This last weekend we started moving my in-laws into their new home. It was no small undertaking. The men worked long and hard ALL day long---lifting, loading, moving and unloading. And in order for the women to take turns with the packing/moving we had to orchestrate shifts for watching the kids. Although I was feeling under the weather it was fun to spend time with my sisters-in-law, help a little bit here and there, and watch all the cousins play.

(I especially love the picture of Brie and Scotty
in their "thrones" in the back seat of the car :0))

AND, it was fun to see my mother-in-law's lifelong dream come true--It's a beautiful home and will be awesome for future family gatherings.

Fellow Canuck!

Two weeks ago my sister-in-law Heather opened her mission call...


It was fun to see how much family and friends gathered
to be there when she opened it.

Drum roll...

She has been called to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the...
Canada Toronto West Mission!!
YAY, a fellow Canuck! (For those who don't know, I served in the Canada Montréal Mission and will always have a special place in my heart for Canada :0))


Yay Heather...what a wonderful season of your life.
We are SO excited for you! :0)
.
.
.

This last weekend she received her endowments (Provo Temple) and most of the family was able to be there. What a special occasion.


Sisters
Afterward at a sloppy joe dinner at Julie & Walt's.
(Liz was there in spirit. She had to leave early)

Being goofy :0)