Sarah

We took the girls to the cemetary on Memorial Day to visit Sarah's grave. We try and go every year and this year Rease wanted to take her own flowers. So she picked all the beautiful dandelions from the cabin and took the whole bunch to put on the grave - it was very sweet.

We also took the time to talk to Rease about Sarah and how special she is to mommy - and also how special Rease is to be named after her. It's not real common knowledge but Rease is actually Sarah Rease and we named her after my sister that died at birth. I have always wanted to use Sarah as a name for one of my kids and when Rease was born we both felt like it just fit to use it with her. So she is my sweet special Sarah Rease and I am glad that I can remember my sister when I see my Reaser.

Swimming Days

These are my girls...ready to go swimming.

Aren't they sweet?

Teeth cleaning

Rease is a little bit of a scaredy-cat. Especially to any type of noise; thunder, loud movies, crackling of a campfire, loud cheering at a game, etc. So as she got closer to turning 3 I knew we somehow needed to get her to the dental office to get her teeth cleaned, but didn't know how to make her not scared of the noises. She has been to the office so many times that you would think she wouldn't be scared, but when it came time to actually having her own teeth worked on she would get freaked out. So a few weeks before her birthday I started talking to her about getting her teeth cleaned and how fun it is and how we will count her teeth, but then told her "but we can't do that until after you turn 3. You won't be big enough until you're 3." So all of a sudden she knew that she would be big enough and brave enough when she was 3 - it was like the magic age. So after that she was very excited about getting her teeth cleaned and didn't seem to mind the noises that comes along with it.

Right after her birthday Josh brought her in on a day that I was at the office. She was so excited and kept saying "I'm here to get my teeth cleaned!"

Luckily she has a mom for a hygienist and it makes it even more fun!
We turned on Little Mermaid and got to work.

She seriously did great. We tickled her teeth and counted each one of them.

Papa came in a declared "no cavities" so she got to hang her picture up along with the rest of the kids in the "No Cavity Club."

She went home with a toothbrush, a toy and a balloon.

She had a really fun time and wasn't scared one bit. Now everytime she comes to Papa's office she wants to get her teeth cleaned!

UV Marathon

Hayley and Caleb ran the Utah Valley Marathon this weekend. It ended up being a cold rainy day and not very good racing weather, but they both did great and the girls loved cheering them on! They ran right by the cabin and then continued on down the canyon and ended up at the Provo Towne Center.

As we were waiting at the finish line, Rease and Rhen found a puddle just big enough for the two of them to get soaked in.

They were a little cautious at first (because they knew mom would not allow it.)

Then realized they were having too much fun to care what mom thinks.

Anyway, congrats to Hayley and Caleb for running a good race!

Moment of quiet

I love this picture of Rhen. What is she thinking?

All I can imagine is that she is dreaming and wishing and loving this moment of quiet by herself.

Meet Mousy

This is Mousy. He is a very important part of our lives. Mousy is Rease's favorite little friend. He goes to the store with us, he goes in the shower with the girls, he goes down for naps when Rease does and he even goes to the doctor when he is "sick." Yes Mousy has become part of the family.

About a year ago, Rease was in a "Littlest Pet Shop" craze and had a whole bucketful of these tiny creatures. We still have them scattered around our house, but for some reason this smallest pink mouse has stayed in Rease's care. She lovingly named him Mousy and for some reason he is a boy even though he is pink.

There is one major problem with Mousy. He is tiny. Maybe normally that wouldn't be a problem but because of his size he is easily lost and that quickly becomes a problem because we can't find him for naps, trips in the car or whatever it is that Rease is doing and wants Mousy along with her. There have been many nights spent crying because Mousy can't be found and Rease thinks she can't go to sleep without him. Luckily we have been able to dig him out of couch cushions, coat pockets, carseat creases and dirty laundry piles and haven't ever lost him for more than 2 days at a time.

The other problem with his size is that he is easily overlooked. One time about 3 months ago I accidentally stepped on Mousy. Nevermind that the darn thing hurt my barefoot, Rease rushed him off to the doctor to be mended and hasn't let me forget it since. She is constantly taking him to the doctor and when I ask what's wrong with him she reminds me "he's sick because you stepped on him." I may never live that one down.

Rease's best side comes out when Mousy is around. She is very very sweet and loving with him - always, and I mean constantly, kissing him, cuddling him, wrapping him up in blankets (wipes) and putting him down for naps, feeding him dinner, hugging, dancing with him and anything else that any best friend would do. I love Mousy because my Rease loves Mousy and that makes her happy! Thanks for being part of our lives Mousy!

(I'm seriously considering buying Mousy a twin just in case Mousy gets lost. What would we do if we lost this precious mouse?)

Birthday month

Josh always teases me because I have a birthday month not just a birthday. I have to admit, this year seemed like it! Not that I'm complaining, but we sure did celebrate the big 2-9 this year. Here's a look at the past couple of weeks.

All of us gathered at mom and dad's house for dinner a couple of Sundays ago. All my favorite people were there - Josh's parents, my parents, siblings, Greg, and of course my girls and Josh. My mom let's us choose what we want for the birthday dinner when it's our turn. I decided hamburgers, chips and guacomole and watermelon sounded good - so that's what we did. It was a perfect day for a barbecue and my girls went clothes-less the whole day enjoying the nice weather.

Rhen enjoyed the food and I enjoyed the fact that she didn't get any clothes dirty with her messy watermelon.

Rease isn't too old for no clothes, right? She is still 2 afterall.
Josh made a delicious homemade ice cream cake.

Our little fam.

On my actual birthday day we took the kids to the zoo. I don't know if I've ever been to Hogle Zoo but we thought the kids would love it. So off we went. Our first stop...the elephants.

Rease loved seeing all the elephants and said to me "they are just like the ones on Jungle Book."

Rease has this funny face when we tell her to smile. It's like she's trying to smile and get the picture over with but it looks so fake while she's at it. This is what most of her pictures look like lately.

Waiting to see the llamas do something cool.

Rhen was very patient in her stroller. She has been sick the last couple of days so she was pretty content to just hang out and watch what was going on around her.

I love this face.

Rease loved the giraffes. And I don't blame her, they really are pretty amazing.

Had to get a picture with the tigers.

Rease is in this climbing craze. Gone are the days of being scared - she is now all over and on top of everything she can get to. Just a few pics of her climbing all over everything at the zoo.

We grabbed a quick pic of all of us as we were leaving the park.

That night we went to dinner and a movie with Josh's parents to end the month long celebration. Thanks to Josh for being a good husband and a good sport with all the birthday stuff. We had a great day together!

Piano recital

Our brother in law Caleb has started taking piano lessons. Last week he had his first recital and we were lucky enough to be invited to watch.

Before each of the students played their song, they announced their name and what they would be playing. Caleb played "Don't cry for me Argentina" and did a fabulous job. He was one of the only ones that did it without his music.

Over the past few months Rease has been watching Caleb practice at Grammie's house and she has started telling me that she is going to "do her homework." So after he's done practicing, she'll pull out a piano book and "practice" herself for a few minutes. So after Caleb was done with his piece at the recital, Rease jumped off her chair and said "oh it's my turn now." Luckily Caleb was one of the last ones on the program so Rease could have her turn after the recital was over.

She stood there just like everyone else and said "I'm Rease and I'm grateful for all my blessings and I will practice my song now." (Just a little mix up with the prayer but oh well!)

Taking her bow afterward.

Maybe I won't have to fight this girl on piano lessons like my parents had to with me!

Make Up

Rease loves watching me get ready for the day because I let her put "make up" on after I do. I let her do the lip gloss herself and she loves it. The other day Rhen was in the bathroom with us and Rease asked if she could put some make up on Rhen. I agreed and this is Rease's effort at putting it on.

She turned to me after trying for a minute and handed the lip gloss back and said, "Rhen's not good at make up. She just wants to suck on it."

Rhen's tricks

This is my sweet Rhen.

And these are her tricks:

1st trick - Josh's family has this thing where they all act like they're asleep when someone is about to walk into the room. Josh has passed this on to my kids and this is Rhen's version of "act like you're asleep!"

2nd trick - though not much of a fun trick for mom. She has learned to be a tantrum thrower. Why do kids ever have to go through this stage?3rd trick - She is learning all her body parts. She knows nose ("beep" is the noise associated with nose), ears ("wiggle, wiggle wiggle"), eyes and this is her showing her hair.

4th trick - Rhen is a screamer. Also not much of a trick but this is what she does a lot of the day. Makes me crazy sometimes!