I Am Grateful

I never knew how happy a chubby little monster could make me. She makes life so fun! The best part of the day is when she says, "Book! Book!" and lets me sit down and read with her (for about 2 minutes). She surprises me with her new words and how much she understands. She loves her "reening vee-o" (reading video) and her "breah" (bread).

New Camera

We got the new camera, and I need a lot of training, but here is one good pic I took while Joann was lying in one place. Little pink one!

Joann in the Bath

Joann says "A, bath, dad, mama," points to her nose, head, belly, ears, and hair, and does the "please" sign.

Joann Drowned Devin's Phone

Before

After

If you're wondering why Devin hasn't returned your phone calls . . .

Indoor Advice

Here are more pictures of our lovely pink-orange living room. We have been thinking of closing off that loft "window" to have a third bedroom, but were worried that it would make the room dark without the light from upstairs. We also need to paint. The color has to be neutral and match the greenish tan of our kitchen. Any advice?

Dino Girl

Notice the Black Belt Sudoku book and red pen she is holding in all of these pictures. Joann, the Sudoku master at age one.

I Love Garage Sales

All of this for $30! The cute baby was free.

My Princess

Rain!

In a torrential Kentucky downpour, Joann only wanted to go out. She got completely soaked and was shivering by the time Devin coaxed her inside, but she loved it.

I Am Grateful

I am grateful for my amazing husband who works hard to make me and Joann happy. He is always doing his best. I appreciate that he takes time to play with Joann when he gets home--it is her favorite time of the day. I am glad he is willing to bike to school in the humidity to save gas and to be healthy, and that he thinks my cooking tastes good and doesn't mind if I haven't cleaned the house. What a guy!

The Kentucky Castle

Did you know Kentucky has a castle? Some rich man built it for his wife because she said she wanted turrets on her house. We went to visit it on Labor Day with our friends from Provo, BJ and Rachel Cox. BJ is in Devin's class at UK. We went to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant that serves really good gorditas (although I'm not sure it would pass a safety inspection).

No, the roof wasn't leaking--BJ and Joann just have matching slobber spots.

The Browns

A family from our ward lives two blocks away. They have three kids, and the wife, Andrea (pronounced ahn-dray-uh), is becoming my dear friend. She and I go on walks together, to the park, to the store. She picks Joann and I up in her van. Joann likes to play with her 3-year-old son, Ashton. Andrea's dad was a military dentist, so she lived all over the world growing up. Her husband, Alan, is a professor at UK.

I Am Grateful

Danelle started posting things she is grateful for on her blog, so I thought I'd do it too.

I am grateful for my cute little house and all the comfort it affords us, especially the air conditioning! I am glad to have a garage and a pantry closet and a large living room. I love having a third bedroom/loft where I can keep the TV and the computer out of our living space.

The next Da Vinci

This is Joann's first work of art!

A very Pleasant Hill

We visited the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. What a beautiful place! This settlement of Shakers was started about the same time as the Resoration. The Shakers lived communally and were very industrious and celibate.
The Shakers hung everything on the wall. Each room has a row of pegs.

Joann played in the dust during a talk on Shaker beliefs.

A goat tried to eat Joann's shoe! She's pretty attached to those shoes, so I'm surprised she didn't complain.

This building is 24,000 sq/ft!

This lady showed us how Shakers spun wool from sheep they raised. She came up to Joann and tickeled her belly. Joann then showed her belly to the next costumed person we saw.

I love the wood work against the white walls.

Papers, Papers Everywhere!

What do you do with this? We get so many papers in the mail. I'd rather get emails! But I can't throw them away because they are important and need to be dealt with, so what do I do with them in the meantime? Any ideas? They don't make a good tablecloth.