Maria's Dance Recital

Maria had a dance recital on the 14th of December. She has been taking dance for about 4 months now and I'm quite impressed at how much she has improved. Her class did two numbers and I thought that Maria did great. She looked great also. Her teacher had sent home a note explaining what to wear and on it she said that the girls could wear a little makeup so that they wouldn't look washed out while dancing. Maria loves makeup and was so excited. I put it on her and she thinks that she should get to wear it everyday. It's going to be a long ten years for her to wait for that one. She looked very beautiful.

Maria looking pretty.

Maria doing ballet to "I'll be a Little Angel".

Maria doing tap to "I Want Candy".

Ring Pops

Maria had gotten a ring pop at school one day and brought it home to eat. She opened it up and Carly immediately saw it, smelled it, and wanted some. Maria being the good big sister that she is gave some to her. Carly was hooked. Her face showed amazement at the fact that someone had combined some of her favorite things (suckers and binkis) and then given it to her. Maria didn't get much of her ring pop, but didn't care because she and I were laughing so hard at Carly. Carly sat on the rug for about 10 minutes while we watched and she ate her ring pop. In the end she was not at all happy that it was gone and headed for Maria's backpack looking for more. She didn't find any but I'm thinking she might get one in her stocking. I will put a bib on her before giving her the next one.

Carly and her ring pop. Anytime Maria or I would get close she would move over out of our reach and put her hands up as if she was protecting it from us.

The aftermath.

Our Christmas Tree

We went to Lyman for Thanksgiving and on Saturday we went up in the Uintas and cut down a Christmas tree. We walked for a few hundred feet and I saw a nice one from the angle that I could see. I mentioned to CJ that it looked nice and that was all he needed to hear. He had it cut before I could say otherwise. We got it home and decorated it and it is a very nice tree. We could have hiked all day and not found a better one. I guess CJ knew that and saved us all the trouble. It was a nice day and I am very pleased with our tree.

CJ and Maria playing in the snow waiting for Michael to find a tree.

Our Christmas Tree.

Decorating our tree.

First Snow Fall

We had our first of many snow storms a few weeks ago. Maria thought that it was the greatest thing in the world, and couldn't wait for the next one. She didn't have to wait long because the next one came a few days later, and then another one a few days after that. The novelty of it all wore off very quickly. She has enjoyed playing in it though and CJ was nice and went out with her to build a snowman.

Adam's Canyon

While CJ was hunting my parents came to visit. My mom came on Wednesday night and then my dad came on Friday. We had a great time. We went to the Children's Museum, Gardner Village for the witch display, to a pumpkin patch, and on a hike to Adam's Canyon. The hike was really nice. The trailhead is about five minutes from our house. The weather was perfect and the colors were beautiful. Maria did great and was our fearless leader, and Carly was in heaven being carried around outside all day. It was a pretty good hike and we got about five minutes from the end and Carly and I stopped. There was a hard to get up rocky place and I could have gotten up it with Carly, but coming down would have been a little scary. Maria and my dad kept going and said that there was a big waterfall at the end. They said it was beautiful, but that it would have been pretty scary with me carrying Carly. We made it down and it was just a really nice day. It was a nice long weekend and I hope that my parents enjoyed it as much as we did

Maria taking a break on the hike to pose for a photo.

Maria in front of the waterfall that Carly, my mom, and I didn't get to see.

Along the trail with all of the beautiful colors.

Happy Halloween!

I have never really gotten into Halloween, but with kids you are kind of forced into it. This year Maria decided she wanted to be a witch and Carly a bat. They both looked great in their costumes and have gotten to wear them a number of times. They had a day at CJ's work where the kids could walk around the clinic and all the different departments handed out candy. It was nice because it was inside and they got a ton of candy. I let Carly have a sucker and she was in heaven. She had a death grip on it and would have eaten the stick if I would have let her. We then had a ward trunk-or-treat which was outside and a little chilly, but they still had a great time. Maria also had a Halloween program at school and a party. I don't know if we will be going trick-or-treating on Saturday, because I think that they have enough candy already, but I'm guessing Maria will talk either me or CJ into going.

Bat Carly enjoying her first sucker. She's in love.

Maria being a cute witch.

Mitchy is Family

We have a new member of the family. Her name is Mitchy (Maria named her), and she is an 11 year old mare that we bought from a family in Tremonton, Utah. CJ is the only one that has rode her, and he thinks she's going to be a pretty good horse. The price was right so I was happy. She is living in Lyman, so I hope that she gets rode enough to keep her in good health. CJ took her hunting and said that she did really well and loves to walk. She only ran him into a tree once, so I guess that's good. Maria loves Mitchy and talks about her all the time. I do wish that we could have her closer so that the horse could get use to Maria. Maria insisted that she needed a cowgirl hat and boots for when she rode Mitchy, and so guess who got a new cowgirl hat (no boots as of yet) Maria. We are happy to have Mitchy.

CJ at camp while hunting.

Mitchy trying to figure out hobbles. CJ said it was very entertaining for awhile and then she just decided not to move at all.

Maria and Sylvie on Flicka. CJ is by Mitchy but you can't really see her. We went to spend a day in Lonetree and they went for a ride around the ranch.

Soccer

Maria has been playing soccer now for a month and we still have another month to go (it's a long soccer season for 5 year olds I think). She has enjoyed it, but is not super intense. She has gotten really good at handstands though. I think she has spent more time on cartwheels and handstands than on soccer.

Maria is number three for the blue team. She's waiting with the rest of the team for the throw in from the goalie.

Classic middle of the game handstand from Maria.

Finally a Happy Carly

So I realized that I have not taken hardly any pictures of Carly and feel kind of bad about it. I think that a lot of the reasoning is that she just hasn't been the happiest girl, and who wants to have a picture of a crying baby. She has come a long way in six months though and is turning into a very happy and fun little girl. She is now 15 pounds 13 ounces and is 26 1/2 inches tall. We love Carly and are so happy that she is in our family.

Carly posing and showing how happy and cute she is.

Harvest Time

We got to Utah the middle of June and it was a little late for a garden, but we decided to try and grow one anyway. We got things planted about the second week in July, and after a few months things actually started to grow. Here's what we planted: corn, tomatoes (3 types), eggplant, lettuce, carrots, beets, onion, chili peppers, green peppers, cucumbers and Maria tried a watermelon. Everything grew except our onions, and Maria's watermelon didn't ripen, but got to a good size. We also have a plum, a nectarine, and a peach tree in our back yard that produced quite a lot. We have a cherry tree and strawberry plants as well, but the birds ate all of the fruit before we could get them covered. We had a lot of fun gardening and it wasn't even too bad having to weed every other day. I think that it was the highlight of the day for Maria when CJ got home and they walked out to the garden to check on things. With all of this produce we had to do something with it. We bottled peaches and nectarines, froze corn, made plum jam and fruit leather, pickled beets, and made pickles from the cucumbers. We have had some great salads and salsa, and I hope that we will be having some roasted eggplant salad soon (my favorite Turkish salad, and the main reason why I planted an eggplant). We have had a great time with this garden and plan on making it bigger and better next year.

Maria posing by the garden, you can see her watermelon in front of her that she is so proud of.

Maria picking peaches. Carly spent a good deal of her summer under that peach tree. It was by the garden and she loved to lay on the grass in the shade of the tree while Maria and I weeded. Well while I weeded and Maria jumped on the trampoline.

Plum jelly, dill pickles, pickled beets, peaches, nectarines, and fresh cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and chili peppers.

Swimming Lessons and Dance

Maria has been taking dance (ballet and tap) for a month and a half and swimming lessons for two weeks. She had her last swimming lesson and a dance recital on the same day. Grandma Eyre and Mandy came to lend their support. She did well and enjoyed doing both. She is going to be in dance for another month and then I think we will be putting her in gymnastics. She did both in Turkey and she seems to like and did better at gymnastics than dance. Carly has been a good sport and has sat through many lessons and been pretty happy most of the time.

Maria with her class after her tap number. She loved the costume and has worn the shorts nearly everyday since getting them.

Maria during her ballet number. She watched the little girl next to her most of the time. I don't think she knew where her teacher was, but as you can see the little girl next to her is trying see past Maria to the teacher. Maria was a bit behind during the whole number.

Giving me a great smile at swimming lessons.

Kindergarten

Maria started Kindergarten on August 23rd. She is in Mrs. King's afternoon class. It was a child/parent day and Maria was not happy about it. She thought the whole idea of going to school meant not being with mom, I had to agree with her. She goes in on Wednesday for testing and then it officially starts next Monday. She is very excited and I hope that she can have a great year.

Classic first day of school photo.

Maria finding Mrs. King's classroom and the star with her name on it.

Maria sitting in her desk for the first time. She is so excited that she gets to sit at a individual desk and not at one large table.

The kids got to go outside and play while the parents received some information. I caught this as I came outside to get Maria.

Have a great day here at Lagoon

Maria and I got season passes to Lagoon. It's about ten minutes away from our house so we thought it would be a fun thing to have. We have been twice with family and then once by ourselves. Maria thinks it's much more fun with cousins than with her mom.

Maria on her favorite ride the Dragonfly with Kate.

Maria on the Ladybug Bop. She's smiling, but didn't want to go on it again EVER.

Trips to Lyman

We have made a few trips to Lyman the past month for one reason or another. We have enjoyed spending time with family and Maria has loved seeing and playing with her cousins. We went to the Anderson family reunion the weekend of July 24th and had a nice time. We stayed in a borrowed camper and although it was better than a tent I still only lasted one night in it and then retreated to the house. All of CJ's siblings were there and it was nice to spend time with all of them. A few weeks later we went to Lyman again, and me and the girls stayed at my parents house and CJ went on a little pack trip with Ben Buckner and some people from work. We had a good weekend and CJ had one good night in the Unitas, and then had some horse trouble the next night. He now knows that he can walk from Dollar Lake down to the trail head at midnight, but would prefer not to if given a choice.

Maria playing at Granny's with Ashton

Maria and Carly cuddling at Grandma Eyre's when they woke up one morning.

We sat outside one evening at my parents house and a moose came and just stood and looked at us. Maria thought is was the coolest thing ever.

Maria is 5!

We celebrated Maria's fifth birthday all weekend (July 30th to August 1st). Jared, Carla, Kate and Hannah came on Friday night for a sleep over and then spent Saturday with us. Maria got a trampoline for her birthday and Jared got to help CJ set it up while he was here. They started at about 10:00 at night and it took a little longer than they would have liked. All I will say is sometimes it's a good idea to read directions. They got it put together and Maria was very excited and has enjoyed having it to play on. On Saturday we went to the Air Force Museum, got lunch at the Burger Bar, played at the splash pad, and walked around Smith and Edwards before Jared and Carla left. Then on Sunday, August 1st we had cake and ice cream and sang to Maria. I think she had a pretty good weekend. We love her and have enjoyed the past five years with her.

First Weeks in Utah

Well we are here in Utah going on three weeks now and still don't have any of our shipments, that includes our car. We are grateful for family that have been letting us take advantage of them and letting us use their things. We are staying in my mom and dad's second home in Ogden and have used their car for a week and a half and then took Clark and Mary's car for a week and a half. We are getting very anxious to have our own things. We have found a home and can't wait to move into it. It is a very nice home with a big yard. We are excited to finally have a little more space. The lady that we are renting from has been so nice and I think we got very lucky to have found a house that we like and a landlord that is going to be quite enjoyable to work with.

We have done more with family in the past three weeks than we have in the past five years probably. Maria gets up in the morning and asks, "Which cousins do I get to see today?" She is having a great time, but I have been really bad at taking pictures. Some of the highlights have been two trips to Willow Park in Logan (one time with Brad, Brian, and families and one time with Carla and family), a trip to Hogle Zoo with Cheryl and boys, swimming with Grandma, Stephanie and family, Laurel's bridal shower and reception, Courtney's missionary welcome home lunch, a birthday lunch and shopping trip with my mom, Stephanie, and Taylor, and various day visitors where we have just sat and talked. It has been very nice, and we hope that everyone will be able to come and visit us in our own home very soon.

Maria and Bracken enjoying the base pool.

Taylor and Carly enjoying the shade at the base pool

Maria, Caitlyn, and Bracken at the splash pad on base.

Maria, Hunter, and Ashton at Hogle Zoo.

Spain

We left Turkey and made a stop in Spain before going to Utah. It was the most relaxing vacation ever. CJ found a house to rent about 45 minutes south of Barcelona. It was in the small village of Saifores. We had a great time. We went to the beach, swam in the pool, went to the nearby village of Valls and watch them make human pyramids, went to Barcelona to see the sights there, went to the coast city of Tarragona to shop, and just relaxed before the long flight back to the USA. We were sad to leave our vacation home, but it felt good to be back in the good old USA. Since being back we have seen a lot of family, found a house, CJ has started his job, and we are waiting for our stuff to get here. Here's to a good year in Utah.

Maria in front of the Mediterranean Sea in the city of Tarragona.

Family photo in a park that we went to. We hiked around for awhile. It had a man made lake and a castle that you could hike around.

Park with the lake and castle in the background.

CJ and Maria enjoying the Golden Coast.

Maria sitting on the 700 year old steps in the front room of the house we rented.
The view from the upstairs window of the house down to the garden.

Eating on the patio at the house. We fixed and ate most of our meals here. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Everyone but Carly enjoying the pool at the house we rented.

One of the human pyramids at Valls. An old tradition we were told.

Some of the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona. It was very fun and interesting.

The Sagrada Familia Temple in Barcelona. It was started by Gaudi and is still not finished. They estimate that it will take another 20 years to finish.

A main square in Barcelona.