The Sun is On... And Clear as a Bell

November 30, 2011

Alia had a sleep over with me last night.  Right next to me.  When she woke up this morning she said "Grandma, the sun is on!"  It was time to get up and fix breakfast.  Oh, I love that little girl.  She makes me so happy!

When I took Alia home, I spent a few minutes playing with Ben.  I walked him to the Christmas tree located in the corner of the living room by the large picture window.  I pointed at balls and bells and said their names.

Grandma - "bell"
Ben - "bell!"  

He said it as clear as a bell!  Yeah for Ben!  That was worth  a round of applause!

The Witch Is In!

October 24, 2011

Audrey and kiddos came out to play.  Alia found the witch's hat and dress.  A scary looking WITCH and she's here to stay!

Swimming Lessons

August 10, 2011

Alia loves swimming lessons!  She is in the blue suit listening to instructions given by her swim teacher.  She not only learned new swimming skills, she made some new friends too!   A grandmother's job of watching her "little ones" succeed, is the most rewarding job of all!

What's Abandon?

August 7, 2011

Yesterday, at Alia's Pool Party, I was sitting in the backyard holding Alia.  We were sitting in a chair under the overhang of the house.  It provided just enough shade to be able to enjoy the summer heat without melting.  We were watching Tera, Tianna, and Carson playing in the pool.  Everyone else had gone home, and Shaniel and Audrey escaped to the house.  

Mike was cleaning up the yard from the day's events when he said to me "your girls abandoned you!".  They were inside soaking up some cool central air.  Alia thought for a moment and asked "what's abandon?"  And, of course, I did explain the meaning to her, which she seemed to understand well enough. 

It amazes me that she wants to be involved in adult conversations, know the meaning of words, and understand what's going on in the world around her.  

If I don't put my camera down soon and pick Ben up, he's going to feel abandoned!

Backyard Pool Party

August 6, 2011

Alia's Pool Party today was fun, fun, fun!  Party hats, BBQ hot dogs, pool play, birthday cake, and presents filled the afternoon.

Shaniel's family, Kelsey and kids, friends, parents, and grandparents attended and enjoyed Alia's Birthday Backyard Pool Party.

Princess all day long

August 4, 2011

Ali Bear turned 3 years old today!  She is a darling, independent, knows-what-she-wants little girl.  She often tells you "I am happy!" It's hard to catch her standing still long enough to get a good picture, so you can imagine my delight when I got this one.....

We started the morning at the house in Brigham for irrigation day.  Alia loves to help mommy in the garden! After the irrigation, we got ready to go to Logan for the day.  Alia loves her braids and shows them off.... "I'm like Tangled", she said.  Alia carefully unwrapped the present I gave her; a princess nightgown, slippers and tiarra.  Oh! how she loved them.  She said "I want to wear my princess dress and slippers", and so she did! All day long.  After she got them on, she kept twirling around, and would occasionally stop and look down at her dress, expressing pure joy and delight in her new princess attire.   It was fun to watch.  We finished up our day celebrating at the Beehive Grill in Logan.  What used to be the DI, located a block from our house, was transformed into the Grill.  It was strange to walk inside and see it all so different.  Grandma, Mommy, and Ben had a most delightful day with a Beautiful little Princess!

Alia in her birthday Princess attire

Slide Burn

Alia!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

What started out as a fun day in the sun, ended up as a 2nd degree burn on the bum cheeks for Alia.  She was in her swimming suit at the time.  She climbed the slide, started her descent, and burned her little bum cheeks all the way down.  Her delicate skin blistered immediately and the first layer of skin peeled off, exposing a bright red burn about 3 inches wide and 6 inches long on each side.  Audrey had to change bandages three times a day, apply antibiotic, and make frequent doctor visits to make sure no infection occurred.   Poor baby girl! From Alia, the bad luck went to....

The burn is on both sides of her little cheeks.  It's just about healed in the picture above

 (taken on Aug 6th)

I'm going to get married...

in the Temple, like a Princess!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Alia looking up at the temple as Angel Moroni is set on the spire

Audrey, the kiddos and I were driving back from Tremonton to Brigham City on 1-15.  You could see the new Brigham City Temple for miles.  Even though it sits in the center of town, it is on the highest point in the city.  Seeing the temple from miles away was breathtaking!   The stone on the face of the temple... brilliant white and spires that look like they touch heaven.  The temple rose high above the large old trees surrounding it and the green leaves provided a beautiful contrast against the bright blue sky and perfectly pure white stone.

As we all looked out the window of the car taking the beauty of the temple, I said to Alia, "that is where you are going to get married someday"!  

and her reply....  

          "I'm going to get married in the Temple like a Princess!"

..... teach your children while they are young, and when they are old, they will not depart from it

Fishing Pole Blues

Friday, July 1, 2011

Yesterday Alia forgot her fishing pole.  Sad!  She's getting it ready for the next trip.

European Mouse

Friday, June 24, 2011

Alia found a hidden surprise in mommy's closet.... a delightfully, brightly painted wooden mouse that I had bought in Europe.  The spring attached to the top makes a very fun play mate as the mouse jumps up and down at Alia's command.  The fabric skirt makes an umbrella effect when the mouse springs downward.  So simple, yet so fun!

Big Helper!

Alia vacuumed up after the upholstery project from yesterday.  What a big helper!

BuBBles

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Audrey went shopping and took Ben, so it was just Alia and I today. We had a fun BuBBles day! First, it was outside to blow BuBBles. Then, it was back inside. Alia got in grandma's BIG tub, washed off all the soap from blowing BuBBles, swam like a fish, sprayed everything in sight with the hand-held shower, and made lots and lots of BuBBles from the jets. She spent an hour in the tub. I think she had a BuBBly fUn day today!

Alia's flowers

Alia planted her flowers all by herself! She is always excited to show them to me. She keeps them on the grow table with mommy's plants. When the weather cooperates, they will plant them outside in the beds. It's been raining since yesterday morning and the weather is cold.

Thunder Crashing

Audrey is my visiting teacher, along with Karla McArthur. They came to the house around 11:00 a.m. and I took Karla on a tour. By the time we were finished, it was time to eat, but we had things to do! Like boil eggs. We did, but then started thinking about Thirsty Thursday (49 cent pop at the Exxon). It was ony 8 miles away in North Odgen! Lots of places to eat, too. So, feeling lazy, we jumped in the van and decided to eat at Bellas (a Mexican Restaurant). While we were waiting for our burritos a ferocious and very loud thunder and lightning storm raced through. I got my Carbon County Spring storm! Alia is looking out at the lightning and thunder show. She said the thunder was "crashing!" We did get our Thirsty Thursday, too.

Woody and Ben

Audrey and I went to Kelsey's today and helped her with her sewing projects. On the way home the kiddos went to sleep in the van. I volunteered to sit with the kids while Audrey did some grocery shopping. It turned into an hour or so. The kids woke up and Alia kept herself busy doing all the things mommy said not to let her do...like push buttons, etc. I'm a grandma, what else can I say!

Alia got a hold of my camera and snapped 25 pictures in all. Thank goodness for digital! This is one of her very cute pictures.... Woody and Ben. Good job Alia!

Go Girl!

Alia is exercising on her mom's elliptical while watching t.v. Audrey was sewing and I was entertained by Alia.... for about an hour. No machine is too big for her. She makes me smile all the time!

I looked out the window....

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

and what did I see? POPCORN POPPING on the APRICOT TREE! Spring has brought me such a nice surprise. Blossoms popping right before my eyes! Alia got her first lesson on tree popcorn. And it was a surprise! Alia was so excited and thought she was going out to the orchard to get some popcorn off the tree to eat.



Mike and Audrey came up last night to say their last goodbye's to Dave and help with some work. Neither Audrey nor I could see out of our eyes.... I'm still seeing blurry, and it gets worse as the day wears on. And Audrey just finished her eye doctor appointment before coming and her eyes were dialated. So Mike and Dave moved the wood from the "shoehorse" drive in front of the rock wall at the back of the barn, with the tractor, and stacked it nice and neat on the lower patio, while the rest of us relaxed inside the house. We ordered pizza and visited.

Austin Lund (our tractor man) and his wife Karen stopped by for a visit. We took them on a tour of the house, and Alia led the way. It was so stinkin' cute and funny! She totally came out of her shell last night. She entertained us all night long. She's even warmed up to Dave and calls him grandpa.