The Jones Family

Violet Emmeline

2010-08-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

Violet Emmeline was born Thursday, August 26th at 3:01 pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. We are so excited to have her in our family. Kora and Lila absolutely adore her and want to smother her with hugs and kisses.

Considering how fast my labor and deliveries have been my plan was to have Violet naturally. I am so glad I did. It was horrible pain for about 30 minutes, but the recovery period has been great. I am so lucky to have Brian, he has been a great support through the whole process.

Feeling great after delivery!

Lila just loves her.

So does Kora.

Here Kora is learning how to spell and write Violet's name.

So excited to be holding Violet. She is so happy whenever she is around her. Hopefully that won't go away.

I love this picture! Just before this picture was taken Lila stated "I give her a kiss, okay?"

First family picture.

I just had to throw this picture in. Brian made brownies a few days after we got home from the hospital and Lila devoured them.

24th of July Neighborhood Parade

2010-07-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Last we our ward put on a July 24th parade and it was so fun. They had the kids dress up in whatever costume they wanted. Which for my girls was of course tutu's. They had horses, an old car and a police officer meander through the neighborhood with a whole bunch of kids on bikes behind them. Kora was enamored with the horses. She literally rode her bike 3 feet behind them through the entire parade. Ben (my brother in law) was kind enough to walk right behind her and stop her when she got a little to close to the horses. Which I guess happened quite a bit. After the parade they had Popsicles and ice cream sandwiches. Then the Murray fire department came and had the kids run through the street while they sprayed them with their fire hose. We all had a great time!

I found this Tricycle for Lila on KSL that same day. So Brian had to help her through the parade so she could learn how to peddle. It is the cutest little trike, I am glad I found it.

Lila with a mouth full of candy.

I didn't get very many pictures of Kora on her bike. She is super fast now and I could not keep up with her. This picture is the best I got.

The girls only ate a little bit of their popsicle's, then handed them off to Brian. He seriously could not get enough of these popsicles. He probably had four.

As soon as the Murray fire department pulled up my girls were fascinated by them. They stood there and just stared for a good 5 minutes while they hooked up their hoses. This picture kills me...it is so funny.

Still looking at the fire trucks.

Here is a video of the girls (mostly Kora) running through the water.

My Not So Little Girls

2010-07-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how big my girls are getting. I mean, they are still quite small for there age, but they are so grown up now. Where has the time gone. They look so much alike nowadays. Many people have asked me if they are twins. I always laugh a little at that, but they do look so similar. At least lately they do. So here they are in their twinner church dresses...looking as pretty as ever.

I love Lila's smile in this picture. She is just radiating.

Lila's 2nd Birthday

2010-07-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

So I am a little late posting this, but Lila turned 2 on June 11th. I am so grateful she is in our family. She has such a strong and fun personality, and she is super stubborn just like me. She completely adores and looks up to Kora and does whatever she is doing, but also knows how to stand up her. She has the sweetest little smile and her sad face just melts our hearts and makes us want to burst out in laughter. She frequently says, "I'm helping you Mommy", and demands that I hold her while I cook or try to clean. She has been such a blessing to me and has taught me so much as a mother.

She had a great 2nd birthday.

Right before opening birthday presents
(notice my large pregnant belly)

I love how Lila is looking at Kora in this picture. It just shows how much she adores and loves her big sis.

Riding on the carousel at the Zoo. She chose (with a little prodding) to go to the zoo for her birthday.

Sitting in the Peacock seat on the carousel.

Absolutely loving the chocolate batter from her birthday cake. Such a funny picture. Sorry if it is inappropriate.

After a full day of fun she pulled her pillow and blankets out into the hall and fell fast asleep. Brian and I didn't even know she did it until we headed off to bed ourselves and found her sleeping...just like this. What a silly sweetheart!

The Painted Shoes

2010-07-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

Not to long ago we found an incredible deal on children's shoes. Brian spotted a pair of black converse with red and orange flames on them. He fell in love with them and wanted to get them for Kora. Kora of course did not want them because they were boy shoes. So Brian told her that they could paint them purple and pink. Kora loves any art project, so after that she was all for it. Both her and Lila loved painting them. After that she wore them with pride.

It happened to us

2010-05-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Friday morning I briefly called Brian at work and the next thing I knew Kora had cut her hair. I couldn't believe it. She was only 5 feet away from me (although hiding behind a bar stool that was draped with a coat) and I was completly oblivious to the fact that she was chopping off her hair. I didn't even notice her getting the scissors out of the drawer. What kind of a mother am I...sheesh. Here is the damage:

She told me that she just wanted a hair cut and was sick of her hair getting in tangles all the time. Kora hates it when I brush out her hair. I am too rough I guess. She did always prefer Brian to brush her hair...he is much softer. She would always suck on her long hair too...making the tangles worse. So, while I wasn't at all happy she cut off her hair, I was excited to have it cut short. A few months ago I had tried to convince Brian to let me cut it short, but he refused because he loved her beautiful long hair. Well that night, after she cut it, I took her in to get it fixed and I think it turned out super cute! Both of us love it. I couldn't get a decent picture of her, but here is what she looks like now... Silliness and all.

It's a...

2010-04-09T21:26:00.000-07:00

GIRL!!! Brian and I couldn't be happier. She is expected to arrive at the very end of August. She is developing properly and appeared healthy. We are so excited!

Pregnant Again!

2010-03-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

I thought I would finally share the news with everyone. Brian and I are so excited to have a third child join our family, as are Kora and Lila. Kora tells me all the time that she is going to be the biggest help when the new baby comes. We find out what we're having next week. Stay tuned to hear the news!

So far in 2010

2010-03-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

We are still homeless! Just in case anyone was wondering. We just haven't found the right home yet. I am hopeful that the right one will come along soon...real soon. Not much else is new or exciting in our lives except for our two little darlings. Here are lots of pictures of my girls and what we have been up to so far this year.

Kora and Lila love to play dress up and dance around. Here they are in their ballerina outfits.

My Grandma Potter turned 88 this year. Here she is on her birthday with Kora and Lila. I am grateful she is still around and hope that I can take many more pictures of her with my children.

Lila loves jumping on the bed. She starts giggling as she jumps...as a mother it is one of the best sounds I hear all day.

Kora and Lila all pretty and ready to go to church. I love Lila's face in this picture. It's like she is trying to smile but is still serious. Kora has on her fake "pose for the camera" smile.

Lila has a really hard time keeping her church shoes on. She loves to take them on and off. Don't know why, but here she is taking them off and probably saying "no" to putting them back on.

Kora...my little sweetheart. She loves the shell necklace that you can see around her neck. My sister Kathryn made it for her and she wears it frequently. She loves the fact that it came from my sister Kathryn, whom she adores, and wants to make about a dozen more from her collection of shells she picked up from South Carolina.

Synchronized sleeping...they are pretty good, don't you think? Sometime in the past 5 months we took Lila's crib down and set her crib mattress up on some number 10 can boxes (very fancy don't ya think). Well, ever since then she will not stay in her bed. She always climbs in bed with Kora. It is so sweet. They love sleeping together in Kora's little twin size bed. In fact, the worst punishment for Lila is if we separate them. She screams and screams Kora's name over and over. She absolutely adores Kora and always wants to be around her and do the same things that she is doing...except when Kora is watching T.V. that is or when Kora is attacking her. Other then that they are pretty inseparable. My hope is that they will grow up being the best of friends. So far so good.

Lila being silly with Kora while eating Captain Crunch.

I didn't capture any good silly Kora pictures, this is the best I got. Still pretty silly I suppose. I guess eating Captain Crunch will do that to you...sugar sugar sugar.

Funny story. We had put the girls to bed one night when suddenly Brian heard a rustling noise and went back to the bathroom to see if Lila was in there pulling off all the toilet paper, but found something else instead. He ran back from our bedroom and got me laughing and told me to come and look. There was Lila, sitting in the corner of our room with her Ted Bear and Bunny reading the newspaper, just like her daddy. When Brian first saw her she was holding the paper up as if she was reading it. We got a kick out of that one. Such a sneaky little thing.

A fun trip to the zoo which we ended with a ride on the carousel. Kora loves riding on the Zebra. This last time we went on the carousel Kora couldn't stop giggling. It was magical for her. I tell you what, these are the moments that just make your heart smile.

Lila also is on the Zebra...She loved jumping around trying out the different animals before the carousel got started, but in the end she settled on the Zebra...just like Kora.

South Carolina Vacation

2009-10-22T14:30:00.001-07:00

A few days after we moved, Kora turned 3. A few days after that we took a fantastic 10 day family vacation to South Carolina. Aside from the airplane trips there and back where Lila screamed hysterically for a solid 45 minutes before falling asleep, it was great! We spent a lot of time walking and driving around, seeing Historical sights, hanging out at the beach, swimming in the hotel pool, and watching T.V. One day while driving around on Sullivan's Island I went to an open house for a beautiful million dollar home. It was pretty exciting. Enjoy the pictures.

Our love for long Sunday walks started before Brian and I were married. Whether walking through our own neighborhood or driving to another, we have always loved walking around looking at homes and yards, picking out what we liked or disliked. So for us, walking through Historic Charleston was a dream, everything was so amazingly beautiful. So this slide show may be pretty boring, but I just had to include it. Brian and I could look at houses (even in picture form) and be content all day.

Downtown Historic Charleston is so charming and beautiful. Of the cities I've been in it is by far my favorite. There are a few pictures of Savannah, GA thrown in the mix, but for the most part they are from Charleston. These pictures don't even do the city justice.

Change

2009-09-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't blogged in a while. A lot has happened since mid June. We sold our home and have moved into a basement apartment next door to my parents, Kora turned three and we took an amazing vacation to South Carolina. Currently we do not have Internet, but soon plan to post loads of pictures of all our exciting adventures!

My baby is One!

2009-06-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

This year has really flown. Lila is one!

Blowing out her candle with a little help from me.
Wondering what the heck was just put in front of her.

Getting ready to dig in.

Tasting it.

Spitting it out and screaming to get out of her high chair.

Next time I better make chocolate cake.

Opting instead for chocolate ice cream while trying to remove her diaper.

Loving the ice cream.

Now if she could just pull off the diaper...naked and eating ice cream, now that would be real happiness.

No luck with the diaper, but devouring all the ice cream she can.

Happy Birthday Lila!

Lila Walks!!!

2009-04-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

My baby is walking! She took her first steps today. She will be 10 months in 2 days. We are very excited! Brian came home for lunch and with a little bribing (food in front of her face) she took her first steps. For a good half hour she walked back and forth between us as we cheered her on. My little Lila is so amazing! Here are some pictures of my sweet baby:

She loves to crawl into her closet and pull her diapers and wipes out.

I just had to include this picture of my girls...I love watching them play together. As you can also see they are both in dresses. Kora always insists to wear a dress, and occasionally she insists that Lila wear one too.

So it has been a good month since I have blogged, but we have been very very busy. About a month ago we decided it was time to sell our home. Since then, we've been working hard to get it ready to put in on the market. We have put so much into our first home and we both love it, but feel strongly that it is time to go. So if you by chance know anyone looking for a starter home, send them our way. You can check it our here: http://www.utahrealestate.com/875244.

Tulip

2009-03-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

Kora is all girl!

She loves barbies, dresses, dancing, and has recently fallen in love with My Little Ponies. (You may have noticed her sleeping with the book a few posts ago). Lately, when we go to my parents house she asks my sister if she can play with her My Little Pony figurine. Well, the other night my mom showed up, after the girls had gone to bed, with a special gift for the girls. That's right, a rocking horse, a full size my little pony...

After suggesting a few names Kora decided on Tulip. She adores Tulip. She drags it all over the house with her...scratching up the walls as she goes (don't worry I quickly put an end to that).

Both girls are staring at the T. V. which is playing...you guessed it...My Little Pony.

Thanks Mom!!! Tulip is a big hit.

My Teller Boy

2009-02-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

As many know, taking pictures of a bank is not allowed. If you look closely at the picture you can see two tellers starring at me wondering what I could possible be doing. For all they knew I very well could have been planning a bank heist. You see, this branch is closing, and I just had to get a picture of the place where I met my man.

This particular branch of Zions Bank is located in a Smiths Grocery store close to where I grew up. Upon returning home from my second year at Utah State University my mom and I went to the bank for some reason or another. It was a few minutes before they closed and I was dressed in my pajamas...boxer shorts, a big t-shirt, no make up, and with my hair pulled up on the top of my head in a complete mess. I was standing in line when Brian walked out from the back and invited me to his teller window. He was a complete flirt, I am talking over the top flirt, to a girl looking like a complete disaster. Immediatly I assumed that he was that way with all the girls. We chatted breifly about life. Found out that he was going to the LDS business college and that I had just come home from school for the summer. Every week I would go in to deposit my check. Every week, regardless of how many tellers there were or how long the line was, he was my teller. There was more flirting on both ends of the conversation, but that was as far as it went. I even thought that maybe I should ask him out on a date, but of course I never did.

One night mid-June 2002, I was asked by a friend to help with a film project she was working on in the Union building at the U of U. Right after we wrapped things up and were about to leave, in walks Brian. He was going to see a concert that a client was playing in...he never made it. Immediatly we started talking and I asked if he needed ride (he had no car and rode his bike everywhere). We talked all night and the rest is history. We dated long distance while I went back up to Utah State and he went to the U. We saw eachother every weekend and talked on the phone hours each day. That next summer, June 2003, we were married.

Here we are 6 1/2 years later...

"My Wings, My Wings"

2009-02-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Kora is in love with the Barbie movies! Any and all of them. So I let Kora watch "Barbie Fairytopia" the other day and shortly after I started the movie, I hear: "My wings, my wings, I need my wings!" So on goes her fairy wings.

The suspense of the movie is building...

Now she frequently asks to wear her wings. The joys of childhood. Sometimes I wish I was a kid again!

The Balloon

2009-02-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

An Albertson's employee gave Kora this very large General Mills Balloon. Kora was so excited. She couldn't stop running around the house as the balloon trailed behind her. She watched one of her favorite T.V. shows holding it and frequently came and got me when she accidently let it go and watched it float to the ceiling. And when she napped she insisted that the balloon "nap" with her. So here she is, Kora and the balloon:

While I am on the topic of sleep I thought I would add this picture of Kora sleeping with her "My Little Pony" book. She very sneakily climbed out of bed to get it and fell asleep while browsing its pages. So cute!

Lila's Blessing

2009-01-28T22:21:00.000-08:00

Finally, after seven months of life we blessed our Lila. Here are some pictures from the day:

Kora loved Lila's dress. She kept asking if Lila was getting married, and if she could try on her wedding dress. I must admit, my little Lila is sure cute and oh so sweet!

Kora insisted that her Kitty Cat also have a beautiful dress and be included in the pictures.

Catch up...well sort of

2008-12-30T12:55:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've blogged. I feel like so much has happened in the past few months. Don't worry, I won't bore you will all the details, just some of the more exciting ones.

Lila is now crawling! It all happened about 4 weeks ago. Perhaps I am opposite many mothers, but I love it when they become mobile. Crawling, walking, running...It may be more work, but watching them explore and learn new things is what makes motherhood so much fun. I am really lucky that both my girls became mobile at an early age. It is fantastic! Explore, explore, explore!

Kora is finally potty trained! I feel liberated! Well, aside from the fact that Lila is in diapers. Potty training attempts have been going on for a solid year. My advice to any new mom thinking about potty training is to wait until they are ready. Do not start early thinking you can potty train them sooner than others. It is not worth it!!! Nevertheless, I am very excited and proud of my little girl for making the big jump into panties. Princess panties no less.

This holiday season has been great! I have eaten way more than I should and probably packed on a few extra pounds, but how can anyone resist those delicious chocolaty treats. This Christmas was fantastic, now that Kora is over 2 years old it has become so much fun. She loved opening all her presents. It was fun to watch her get side tracked with each toy she opened.

Later that day, Kora and Brian went outside to play in the snow and shovel the walks.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Running to the fireplace to see the goodies Santa left her.

The girls in their snow getup.

Yummy! Eating snow is delicious!

The past few nights, after putting the girls to bed, Brian and I have stayed up way to late playing Hand and Foot. We are hooked! Many who know the game may wonder how Brian and I play this game by ourselves, but we've adjusted the rules for a two player game. We play with one hand and three foots. It is great. I now understand why many of the elderly play card games all the time.

Halloween

2008-11-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

This year Kora was a Dancing Princess and Lila was a Ballerina. Kora absolutely loved her purple dancing dress! My little sister wore it for a dance recital when she was about five. Good thing my mom hoards everything! Anyways, Kora would ask to try on her "Halloween Dress" almost everyday. So by the time Halloween came, she was super excited to wear it all day. Kora was also pretty excited that Lila was a ballerina. She thought Lila's tutu was "so cute!" Thanks to Melanie for letting me borrow it.

I took the girls to Brian's work for some Trick or Treating. Jackpot!!! Tons of Candy. I was pleasantly surprised that she got at much as she did. Not that lots of candy is a good thing, but I felt justified in not taking her door to door that night. Now I just have to regulate the intake of all the candy...for both Kora and myself!

Everyday Life

2008-11-02T21:24:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post some picture of my guy and my girls. They are my life and I love them so much.

Lila just started eating rice cereal. This is a picture of her first feeding. I was really suprised that she kept most the food in her mouth. She is already a great eater.

What a cute smile!

I absolutely love this picture!

Isn't my Lila so cute?

She is such a happy baby. It seems like she is always smiling.

'Tis the Season

2008-10-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

Autumn is by far my favorite season. The cool weather, the sunny days, the vibrant foliage colors, the fallen leaves, and food harvested from gardens and trees.

This year we have been extremely blessed. For the past two months I have been extremely busy canning and preserving food. Many nights, after the girls have fallen asleep, I would stay up peeling pears, shredding zucchini, chopping cucumbers, dicing tomatoes...the list goes on. This year, over any other, I have been motivated to preserve all of our food. Even though it has been quite time consuming, I am very happy with the outcome. I canned over 45 qt pear halves, 20 qt pear sauce, 7 qt and 20 pints pickle relish, 45 qt diced tomatoes, and 42 qt of applesauce. I have frozen corn, zucchini and peaches and have dehydrated apple slices. I must say, it feels liberating to be done.

I thought I would post the recipe for dehydrated apples. They are so delicious and make a great snack.

Dehyrated Apple Slices

3 1/2 lbs. apples

1 quart water

1 cup lemon juice

2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Peel, core and slice apples. Put sliced apples in water and lemon juice mixture for a few minutes. Place on dehyrator trays. Once your trays are full, sprinkle apples with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Dehyrated for 6 hours. Turn apples half way through. If you do not have a dehyrator then you may use your oven. Set your oven at the lowest temperature (around 150 to 200 degrees is fine) and dehydrate the apples for at least four to five hours. Turning half way through.

My Vote

2008-10-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
-John Quincy Adams

This quote really hit home for me today. I was planning on voting for one particular candidate until I read this quote. Lately I have caught myself frequently thinking thoughts like "I want my vote to count," "I don't want to waste my vote," "I live in Utah so it doesn't really matter who I vote for ," or "This candidate is going to win anyways so it really doesn't matter."

I wonder how different the outcome would be if people really voted on principle for what they truly believed in.

As for my vote, it belongs to a third party.

Beautiful Fall Day

2008-10-16T22:00:00.001-07:00

The weather was perfect today! Brian came home from work and decided to start tilling the garden areas in our yard. I picked the most beautiful butternut squash! The girls and I took a walk around the neighborhood and then hung out in our back yard and enjoyed the remainder of the day.

Kora was very accommodating and held Lila just long enough for me to get this one picture of the two of them.

Kora being her cute normal self.

Brian working away.

Look at these beautiful butternut squash. I can't wait to eat one. Yum!!!

Kora's 2nd Birthday

2008-09-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Kora's 2nd birthday this past Wednesday. She had such a great day and loved all the attention. The night before, Brian and I decorated the house with pink and purple streamers. She was so surprised and excited to wake up to a decorated house and birthday presents. I can't believe she is already two. We are so blest to have her in our lives. She has such a adventurous personality and is always excited to learn new things. We are totally and completely in love with our little girl! Here are some pictures of her special day.

Posing for the camera. What a cutie pie.

She loved the books Grandma and Grandpa Jones gave her.

I love this picture of Kora. She is yet again dressed up in one of the dresses I made back in high school. It is about 3 sizes to big for her, but she loves it. This was earlier in the day. Grandma Groesbeck gave her the birthday crown and earrings along with a bunch of other goodies. Doesn't she look just fabulous.

She loved her chocolate birthday cake.

She started out using her fork as usual, staying mostly clean.

She slowly discovered that if she used her hands she could get the yummy cake into her mouth much faster.

After shoveling all that cake into her mouth she was quite a mess.

What a great day!!!

Horse Ride

2008-08-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we started working on updating our Kitchen. Brian took a few days off of work so we could put in granite tile countertops. It was a lot of work! We discovered that doing house projects with two small children is close to impossible. Nevertheless, we persevered and now have beautiful granite tile countertops to show for it. I will post pictures soon.

Kora was such a trooper and was so patient with us as we worked away in the kitchen. So we decided to take her to Gardner Village to ride their horses. She loves horses and was so excited.

Lila has become our little smiler. She is always smiling these days, much more than Kora did at two months. I love these pictures of her. She is so adorable.

Random Pictures of my girls

2008-08-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

It has been such a long time since I posted. Here are some pictures taken this past month.

Kora is posing for the camera in some of her favorite princess dresses. She refuses to wear anything but dresses these days. If I even attempt to put her in anything other than a dress, even a skirt, she throws a fit. It's kind of cute though. The other day she was jumping on my bed and twirling in circles just going crazy and having a ton of fun. Our converstation went something like this:
Kora: "I'm dancin, I'm dancin"
Me: "Are you a dancin queen"
Kora (abruptly stops dancing and says): "No! I'm a princess!"

It was so funny. I couldn't stop laughing.

One of Lila's favorite actvities...sleeping.

I don't know that there is anything more precious than a sleeping baby.

Sprinklers

2008-08-12T13:54:00.001-07:00

Kora has had so much fun this summer just playing outside with her dad. If she is not eating sweet peas from the garden, smelling the lemon thyme or looking at her favorite plants then she is running through the sprinklers. Many days she wanders back into the house naked and soaking wet from running through the sprinklers.

Time for Church Mom

2008-06-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

I just had to post these pictures of Kora. Taken moments before going to church.

Lila Juliet Jones

2008-06-17T11:14:00.001-07:00

Lila was born weighing 6 lbs 11 oz and was 20.5 inches long.
Born at 2:57 am on Wednesday, June 11th.

She has been such an incredible baby so far.

We are so blessed to have our two beautiful girls in our lives. We love them both so much!

Here are some pictures from the past few days.

Preparing for baby

2008-06-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

About 3 months ago we moved Kora out of the crib and into a twin size bed. Which meant switching rooms to make way for the baby. She loves her new room. It has taken me a few months, but I finally started decorating her new room. I selected chocolate brown and pink as the colors. We found a beautiful picture of pink cherry blossoms and made a brown frame. I just finished making a comforter, bed skirt and valance as well. I hope to make a little stool/ottoman upholstered in pink and brown fabric. However, that probably won't happen for a little while. At least not until after the baby arrives. I have posted pictures. You will have to let me know what you think.

I decorated the babies room before Kora was born, but since then we have added a new picture above the crib. We still have to make a few modifications to it, but once again that will have to wait until after the arrival of the baby. Anyways, I thought I would post some pictures of her room as well. I realized that it is not easy to take pictures of confined spaces. You have to take multiple pictures just to capture a portion of the space. These pictures make the room seem smaller than it really is. How do the professionals do it?

The area under our stairs was closed in, so my incredible husband knocked down a portion of the wall and put in a door so we could have a little room for our food storage. I am so excited for the extra space. Now he just has to build some shelves, but I am sure he will have that done in no time. He is the project king. Some days I don't know how he does it. Everyday he comes home from work and immediately starts on some project around the house. He creates projects from no where just so he can work on something. He rarely if ever comes home and sits in front of the T.V. Like I said, he is incredible. I admire his work ethic. I don't know what he will do when we run out of projects. I suppose that will be moving day.

The 12 Dancing Princesses

2008-05-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

This past month Kora has fallen in love with the movie "Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses." She has never been one for watching T.V. or movies of any kind, but that all changed when she was introduced to this movie. My mom told me how cute it was and that I should try and get her to watch a few minutes. Well, she adores it! She just can't get enough of this movie. She begs to watch it everyday. Sometimes even multiple times a day. I am pretty strict on only letting her watch it once a day. I feel like that is even too much for her age, but it is so nice to be able to get something done or be able to sit and relax for an hour.

So I made this yellow dress when I was a sophomore in high school. Kora calls it her "Dancing Princess Dress" and wears it all the time. She asks me to put on music so that she can dance. She'll say "music, music" and then she dances around the room with her arms up like a ballerina spinning in circles. She also says "dance a prince" and pretends that she is dancing with a prince just like in the movie. It is so funny to watch her. She is already a little ballerina.

Here is a picture of her with her arms up like a ballerina. To bad I can't capture her dancing in a picture. I will have to get video and post it sometime. It is just too cute.

I thought I would post a picture of some of our tulips in bloom. Last year we made this flagstone path to our front door and planted most of these plants. We were surprised at how fast the plants have established themselves. To bad tulips don't last all summer. Brian and I just love them. Unfortunately they are already dying. This picture was taken from our front window so it is not the best, but it was the only way I could get a more aerial view of the whole walkway in without having to climb up on the roof.

Kora and The Cat

2008-04-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Kora loves her stuffed cat!

Recently she has taken on the roll of mother. She will pile blankets on top of her cat and lay it down for a nap, put it in time out and attempt to change its diaper. It has been so fun to watch her play pretend. It ought to make me more cautious of my actions since she picks everything up from watching her dad and me.

Her many commands to her cat include
"time out"
"sleepy sleep time"
"night night"

"lay down"

"get up"
"no talking"

"hug"
"change diaper"
"clean with wipey"
"stinky stink"

Spring Time

2008-04-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

The weather lately has been beautiful! I feel like spring has finally come. The leaves on the trees are budding, the forsythia blooms are out and the daffodils have just opened up. Brian loves working in the yard and was so excited that he spent most of Saturday outside mowing, edging, trimming, tilling, reshaping flower beds and admiring the new blooms throughout our yard. He even has a nice sunburn to show for it. I discovered how therapeutic pulling weeds can be. Growing up I always dreaded the chore of pulling weeds, but really enjoyed it this past weekend.

Our Daffodils in bloom

So...My dad has a very large and beautiful apricot tree that puts off a substantial amount of fruit. Last year I canned 74 quarts of apricots. It was quite the task, but they make the best apricot frappes (apricot smoothies). Brian and I love them and we have Kora hooked on them too. When she wants one she says 'apricot' just like they say it on the east coast and it is so cute.

One of my quarts of apricots from last year.

On average, my dad's tree only produces fruit every three years, but as long as it doesn't freeze we will get apricots this year too. So I am crossing my fingers that we have good or at least decent weather from here on out. Two years ago we planted two apricot trees in our yard, but they are still too small to produce much of anything. Once our apricot trees bloomed I started singing 'Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree' and now when Kora sees the trees she calls them the popcorn tree and demands that I sing. The same thing happens when she sees our purple pansies, she wants me to sing the 'Little Purple Pansies' song.

Our Little Apricot Tree

I just love our little girl. Brian even taught her the difference between daffodils and tulips. Two months ago she would just point out a plant and say flower, but now we have her identifying pansies, daffodils, tulips and popcorn trees. Can you tell we spend a lot of time outside? Anyways, I am constantly amazed by my child. She seems to retain so much of what we tell her and what she observes. We are certainly proud parents.

Easter Weekend

2008-04-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

For the past few months, Brian and I had been brainstorming places we would like to go for a short little vacation getaway. We never could decide were to go, how long to stay or when it would be. Being pregnant, I knew that if we didn't go before the end of March I wouldn't want to go, and it was highly unlikely that we would go after the baby was born. So the Wednesday before Easter we spontaneously got tickets to fly into LAX for that Saturday. Luckily, Brian has three siblings that live in S. California so we were able to go and spend the weekend with them. It was a blast!

Kora loved the beach.

Kora loves to read! Her favorite books happen to be the ones about trucks and tractors. Luckily, my brother in law, Dolphe, manages a bobcat store and allowed us to come down and check out the machines. She was so excited when she was able to not only see a real 'digger', but sit in one too. She was also fascinated with the bulldozers. She ran around calling them 'bulldonozers'...it was adorable.

We went on a walk in a beautiful neighborhood. I couldn't help but take pictures of the beautiful flowers that are in full bloom. I can't wait for that to happen here in Utah.

We also went to the Los Angeles Zoo, and toured around downtown Riverside. However, what really made this trip was hanging out with family and seeing Kora interact with her aunts and uncles.