Fall

Ever since my family moved to McCall, Idaho 11 years ago, fall has been my favorite season.  For me, the crunch of fallen leaves, the brilliant display of multicolored trees, and the glorious tastes of pumpkin, nutmeg, cider, and cinnamon amidst ever-dropping temperatures is heaven. An older woman at church wisely told me that it is a gift from God to ease our transition from summer to winter.  I feel blessed to have lived here in Utah for the past 6 years where I get to continue enjoying autumn in all its splendor!

My parents delighted us during their last visit with a trip to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point, a playground for all things fall.   

Between quality family time...

...goofy photo-ops...

 

...burlap slides...

...special bonding with Nana and Grandpa (Lizzie still asks to go on another cow ride, by the way, Nana)...

...and some serious exploring for our toddler, we had a fantastic time! 

For reasons I don't fully understand, I have a very strong emotional attachment to everything at Thanksgiving Point.  The Gardens are always magnificent (see example post from last year & another from this summer), and the Dinosaur museum always leaves me feeling more knowledgeable.  :)  I know I could visit over and over, and it would never get old.  If we move away (we're still holding our breath for the Air Force JAG, by the way), I hope we find similar beloved family outing locations wherever we go!  Thanks again, Mom & Dad, for that wonderful treat!

P.S. We've determined that few toddlers enjoy dressing up like Lizzie does.  Once again, her tendency to do nothing half-way is manifested in the picture below!

Lizzie quotes

I'm taking a leaf from my dear friend Alea's book (or--blog), by posting a list of some of the most hilarious things from Lizzie's mouth lately. Most of the time, we have no idea where they come from, but they sure keep things from getting in a rut around here:

"I'm a mountain goat!" while running across the Kmart parking lot. (We had called her that the week before during a hike).

"Daddy, don't pour him!" (after Case tossed our dog off the bed).

Case: "Do you like Fridays?"

Lizzie: "Yeah. I like fries and burgers!!"

Case: "Do you think it's just a day when we fry things?

Lizzie: "Mmm-HMM! I like food! I like milk! I like licorice! I like bubbles!"

Grandpa: "Are you cute, Lizzie?"

Lizzie: "No, I'm Princess Cute."

"I want chocolate regular." (after we offered to make chocolate chip pancakes)

"Silly Mommy! You're silly goose!"

"TINKERBELL!!" (every time we see her poster in the mall--and there are a lot of those posters in the mall).

"Don't talk to my daddy!" (to most people trying to speak with Case)

Her pronunciation of certain things:

-"Scrippers" = Scriptures

-She also pronounces many long u sounds with a strong Scottish accent, such as "Do," "Shoe," and "Music." We think this is due to her abiding love of the movie, Brave.

"Marry me, daddy?" (yes, she proposed to Case. He let her down easy though). :)

Every time I brush her hair: "Mommy, why can't I go outside?" (that is, every time since she memorized the script from "Tangled." And when I say memorized, I mean memorized. She recited about 20 minutes worth of the script during some errands yesterday, including Flynn Rider's "The kingdom and I aren't exactly simpatico at the moment.")

There are many more, but I hope these had you smiling they had us!  Never a dull moment with our little girl!

 

 

Story Time

One of my favorite traits Lizzie possesses is her habit of doing nothing half-way.  When she plays with Grandma & Grandpa Wade's magnets, she carefully examines ALL of them.  When she enjoys her puzzles, every single piece is pulled out of every puzzle.  When she brings her stuffed animals and dolls to life, every one of them join in on the party.  And when she reads, well, you can probably guess.  Here is an example of her delighting in nearly all of our home books and every library book in the house.  

 

Summer

So much for regular posts this summer.  Oh, well. As Case has toiled at his internship, Lizzie and I have been making the most of our sunny days.  I knew that once school got out, if I didn't figure out some kind of routine for us, a) I would go crazy, & b) Once the summer ended, I would feel like a failure for not enjoying the long days with my special little two year old while I could.  Thus evolved our typical weekday schedule, which looks something like this:

Water Park (bike ride there and back)

Lunch

Nap

Play/movie/story time

Dinner

Bedtime

Sweet and simple for us.  My favorite part is the morning.  I don't know who loves the bike rides more.  Lizzie simply worships her little "car seat" we attached to the back.  But I know I'm getting a sweet deal, with a beautiful exercise/outdoors/transportation package on two wheels!  I'll have to get Case to take a picture of us sometime, but for now, here are some shots of our latest weekend adventure to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens.  

 Her first cheesy fake smile! I LOVE it!

 

Oh, and did I mention she loves water?  Wait, "love" might be an understatement.  The kid is a fish.  One of her favorite activities at the water park is holding her breath underwater.  Makes my heart nearly stop every time.  And she HATES it when I try to carry her or help her in any way.  She insists, "I can walk!" even if the water is up her nose (which is usually when she realizes there may be some limitations to her independence). 

Patriotic!

 As many of you know, Case is currently applying to be in the Air Force JAG.  This decision came a shock for us, as we had always planned on just settling down in this area, close to beloved family and friends.  However, we feel very strongly this is the path we should take right now.  Anyhow, the massive application includes a request for a full body picture, so we thought we'd head over to the Provo library where the background would be lovely.  As Case headed over to a spot he thought would work, he realized the American flag was reflected in the window.  If that isn't fate, I don't know what is!  As strange as this may sound, it truly felt like a personal confirmation to us that we are headed in the right direction.  

Since Case is the main photographer in the family, we hardly have any pictures of him!  Consequently, I am very pleased to have these now.  Isn't he handsome?!!  :)

Tired of waiting, Lizzie wanted to get in on the action. Plus, she had a very important treasure to share: her flower.

Happy 4th next week!

Surplus...

Summer is officially here for this teacher!  In other words, my seasonally  regular (hopefully) blogging habits have returned!  I apologize for the delay, but to reward my remaining viewer's dedication in checking this blog (Betty!), I am posting a serious surplus of pictures.  It really doesn't seem like Easter was all that long ago (the last time I posted), but apparently, much has occurred since then (including Lizzie's 2nd birthday)!  So sit back, and enjoy!

Hangin' at the duck pond.  Lizzie adores finding seats in places others might not see as such.  :)

Check out those cupcakes lovingly made by Betty!  And the sweet little 2 year old picked out her special pink frosting!

Lizzie LOVED all her presents!

Getting tickled!!

Priceless.

On Memorial Day, we went hiking!  And Lizzie sure loved the shoulder ride she got from Daddy most of the way...

 

 Maci on the move!!
 

Sweet big brother!  I'm sure Maci will appreciate those tight hugs someday... :)

Hmmm... I don't remember if anything violent with that bat resulted shortly after this picture was taken, but judging by that expression, it might have.  I think she got a little territorial with it.