I have fallen in love with another boy...

And Mike is OK with it. This little half-pounder will make his grand entrance into the world in February (as a much larger, but still little, guy) and I can hardly wait!

Discovery Gateway

We are a bit behind the times. We just barely experienced our first outing to the Discovery Gateway last week. (I was very skeptical of paying ~$9 for a 1-year-old to get in, but we found a way to get a free pass for the family--yeah. Let me know and I can clue you in on how to get one:) We had a great time and there were some really fun activities for Abby.

Here is a link to a few pictures and videos (click on the picture):

From 06 Discovery Gateway

♪ Abby's repertoire ♫

Abby is becoming quite the singer. Here are a couple of her favorites:

• "Up above" - This is her version of Twinkle, Twinkle. She will sing lots of fairly unrecognizable words then throw in a few "up aboves". I love it! We have a Twinkle book that is definitely a favorite.
• "Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, etc." - Mike and I thought she was singing the Hello Primary song in nursery, but apparently they are not so...either we have a composer in the works or she has picked up on the Hello song the couple times Mike or I has sung it to her.

At bedtime, we have started asking her what she'd like us to sing to her. These are, hands down, the winners:

• "Sun" - With her hands clenched, she says "sun" and is ready for "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam. (Her hands are clenched so that she can open and close them on "Sunbeam!")
• "Chi God" - In Family Home Evening last week we sang lines from "I am a Child of God" several times and she loves it. I can't imagine a song and a message I'd rather she love.
  

Thoughts about temples and missing Mike

Life is good. I went to the temple tonight for Stake Temple Night and it was great. We had a meeting as a stake before going on the temple session and I was excited to come home and write in my journal about what I can do to make the temple more meaningful in my life. It was a great meeting and I LOVE having a temple so close. It is truly a refuge.

Unfortunately, Mike couldn't come with because he is in Minneapolis. I hate it when he is gone, but this will be a quick trip. He'll be back on Thursday afternoon and he only left today. I can handle that, I think. Abby notices when he's gone, for sure. Tonight as I was making her dinner before leaving for the temple, she kept saying, "Daddy, soon, daddy, soon." I think that when I am usually making dinner I tell her that daddy will be home soon. Tonight I had to explain otherwise. I think that Mike missed her even more when I told him that little anecdote.

More Abby-isms

We drove past the Murray Cemetery the other day, (Hope is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery) and Abby called out "Hope!" when she saw all the headstones. Cute...

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Disclaimer: Neither Abby or I consider myself political analysts...

The other day during a lapse in our breakfast conversation, I started the following conversation with my one-year-old:

Marinda: So what do you think about this year's presidential election?
Abby: [very blank stare with her mouth full]
Marinda: So do you think McCain or Obama will win?
Abby: [with mouth very full] B-Cain [back to eating]

So there you have it...2 months early?!?!

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Outside the other day, Abby called out "laun-lee, laun-lee". That is her word for laundry. I looked over and she was playing with her little lawn mower. Lawn mower...laundry...it works!

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Abby loves to floss her teeth! LOVES IT! (Unfortunately, to the extent that she sometimes finds used floss in the bathroom trash can--pretty gross, I know! But I think it is fun that she likes it so much.) The past couple days floss has calmed her sad moments just as well as the binkie! Now, will I be brave enough to say "bye-bye" to the binkie? (Oh, probably not yet!)

Yellowstone!

For the 11th year in a row, I made it to Yellowstone. We really missed Mike, but Abby and my mom and I had a great time!

Here is Abby at Big Springs in Island Park on the way in. She LOVED feeding the birds!

This is my favorite geyser--Great Fountain. This picture does it no justice:( It is usually predicted with a 2 hour window on either side, but I guess it has been more regular lately and we got there 5 minutes before it erupted. Lucky us!

A highlight for Abby was playing at the "beach" of Yellowstone Lake. It is sooo cold (reminiscent of the Oregon beach), but it didn't slow her down for a second.

Here is the back side of a bear off the side of the road. I love bear watching and was pleased to see this little guy. I saw his face nicely, too:)

We are hiking the rim of the canyon...

...with a tired little girl.

When the trail left the rim we ended up at this lily pad lake.

Token picture of the falls...(one of the most spectacular places on earth, in my humble opinion)

Abby playing in the Canyon Visitor's Center (the water globe is just like the one at the zoo)

My mom and Abby in front of the Lake Hotel.

Abby took this picture. She loves to take pictures and I thought it was cute that she actually got me in the frame:)

Abby (reluctantly) petting Clyde the Cutthroat Trout with the nice ranger.

Abby throwing rocks in the river (before the ranger asked her not to:)

Abby is the latest pro at identifying "luff-loes". (Yeah, I know they are bison, but buffalo is a "funner" word to say:)

The artist paint pots in the late summer are great mud pots. (I've usually gone to Yellowstone in earlier summer and the supposed mud pots have been too runny to be considered real mud pots, but here they are in all their glory!)

Abby and I in front of my second favorite waterfall in the park - Gibbon Falls

It was a great trip and I am glad that my mom could come with us! Thanks for humoring me and looking at lots of pictures!

Our happy news!

We are excited to say that we are going to have another baby in mid-February! All looks good and we are very grateful to have this opportunity in our family. We should find out we'll have a boy or a girl in mid-September:)

Life is just fine...

Here are a few of our recent activities (in reverse order):

We went to Liberty Park with our neighbors and played in the fountains and rode the rides. This was great! It was the first time she has ridden a ride by herself! Here are the neighbor boys and Abby in the cars:

Here she is in the airplane:

We also went to This is the Place Park this week. It is a really fun place and we enjoyed going with friends. Abby loves pony rides!

She pet a goat...And rode a train!
Last week, Mike's nice employers rented out the zoo. The carousel was a big hit:The big singing/squirting elephant was not:(

Flashback...to 2002

Note: I am well aware that this "Flashback Friday" is being posted on a Saturday. It was written on Friday. Does that count?

I've never done a flashback Friday, but I'm excited for this one! I loved the Olympics when they were here in Salt Lake. I had so much fun and would love for them to come back.

Here were some of my favorite things:

• I went to four events - Nordic ski jumping (the morning after the Opening Ceremonies), a women's luge final event, the final curling match and a Paralympic hockey game as a chaperon for my school
• My friends and I had an Opening Ceremonies party at Robyn's house
• I went downtown to the Olympic festivities several times
• I watched as much as I possibly could on TV
• I went to a free concert/medals ceremony on a date
• I did a ton of Olympics stuff with my Kindergartners (including leaving the TV on during school for the educational value:)

This is my brother and I at the ski jumping:

Abby-isms

When I am sitting barefoot, Abby will come up to me and wiggle one of my toes with a mischievous grin, saying, "Market, market!" (i.e. "This little piggy went...")
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Abby has her own chore. She is responsible for cleaning the pine cones out of the driveway. I have to accompany her to help her "stay on task", but she is doing a great job and loves being a little helper.
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The other day, Abby came across a pin cushion and took out a pin. I told her that it would give her an ow-ie--that she should put it back. Instead, she started gently pushing it against the sole of her foot (not to worry, no blood even close to being drawn) saying "Ow-ie, ow-ie". I realized she was putting the pin exactly where the infamous sliver had been. (She obviously remembered all we had been through to extract it.)
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Abby's latest is dressing herself. This is a picture of her trying to put a one-sie on over her pajamas. She is actually getting a lot better at putting her pajama bottoms on! Amazing at all the things she is learning!

Mildly disturbing conversation regarding health care costs

Mike: (reading the mail) So what surgery did Abby have on July 16th?

Marinda: Hmmm... (I like to be a fairly attentive mom so I am quite convinced that Abby DID NOT have surgery on July 16th) You've got to be kidding!!!! (As I now remember...) The doctor helped us take out a sliver!

Back up to July 16th:

So, the day before we left for Oregon, Abby woke up with a wicked cold. I took her in--just in case--since we'd be gone for the next 12 days. The doctor gave us the all clear on the cold and I said:

Marinda: While I'm here, can you help me get this big sliver out of her foot. She has been fighting it for a couple days.

Doctor: Sure, let me get my tweezers. (Doctor removes the sliver. Abby screams.) All done!

Yeah, the insurance paid $270 for that! Expensive tweezers...still like the doctor.

A few things that I love...

The Olympics! I watch more TV during the Olympics than just about any other time. I think they are pretty magical:) (And my 2002 memories sure contribute to that:)

New experiences with Abby! She went on her first carousel ride on Thursday at the zoo. She sat on the polar bear for a moment before the ride started and thought it was fine, but, wow, when that thing started to move around and up and down, life got really good! Today she rode in a wave pool and it was just as good (but no pictures since mom and dad were also enjoying the waves).

[picture to follow]

The sound of jar lids sealing! (I just canned a batch of pickles and right now I can hear that glorious little popping sound.)

Pictures from the last couple days of our trip

These are at Crater Lake (Saturday)

We're home!

We made it! I'll catch up a bit on the last couple days...

Friday, we arrived at Crater Lake at around 10:30, set up camp and tried (unsuccessfully) to put Abby to bed. She ended up snuggling with Mike in his sleeping bag (mine is a mummy bag and doesn't fit more than barely me). I don't think that either of them slept too well!

Saturday

• We loved driving around the rim of Crater Lake. It is beautiful with such a nice blue hue.
• We went on a ranger led hike into a beautiful canyon
• Abby successfully slept in her sleeping bag:)
• We visited the Visitor's Center and I read a display on the CCC during the New Deal. It is interesting to think that we likely wouldn't have the roads, trails and other infrastructure in our beautiful parks and forests without the efforts of these programs and young people who participated in them.
  

Sunday

• We took down camp and drove to church in Klamath Falls - on this trip especially I have been reminded what a blessing it is to be able to visit congregations around the world and to instantly feel at home (both the Newport and Klamath Falls Wards were very welcoming and enjoyable)
• We drove to Winnemucca to begin the journey home
  
• We saw wild donkeys on the way
• Sometime along the way we finished listening to New Moon by Stephenie Meyer - entertaining listen
  

Monday

• We drove some more, listening to Eclipse - now that we're home we'll have to find 11 or so hours in a car (or by a CD player) to finish it off!

We had a great time on our trip and are especially grateful to Mike's parents for the gorgeous beach house we were able to stay in for the week! Here is the view we got to look out each day. Can you tell that's the ocean outside the window?

MPG

My sister and b-i-l drove to Yellowstone last weekend and got 45 mpg in their little Chevy Cavalier (with 3 kids in the back seat). Kevin forced himself not to drive over 65 the entire way. I've always said that Yellowstone does wonders for gas mileage because the speed limits are so low. Well, this drive to Crater Lake has had virtually no freeway (i.e. slower) and after filling up our Santa Fe we found on these rather slow and windy roads we're getting 24-25 mpg. Love it. We never get more than 20 (and that is on a really good day).

Days 8 & 9 - Various parts of Oregon

Thursday

• Drove to the Yaquina Head lighthouse and walked to the top – very interesting mini tour
• Toured the Hatfield Marine Science Center and watched an octopus eat a big ole’ crab
• Lunch and naps at the beach house…
• Went with Bekah and Lance to the outlet mall in Lincoln City for a “productive” shopping trip
• Back to the beach house

Friday

• Took family pictures on the balcony and down at the beach
• Packed up and left the beach house :(
• Headed south on the 101
• Stopped at Cape Perpetua (if I lived in Oregon, I’d go camping there—very pretty)
• Stopped at an overlook to the Heceta Head lighthouse
• Stopped for lunch in Florence
• Watched lots of different types of cool seals and sea lions just south of Coos Bay
• Said goodbye to the rest of the family and began the drive to Crater Lake
• Stopped for dinner in Roseburg (it was warm when we got out of the car in Roseburg—I suppose we haven’t been off the coast for a week—I’m not complaining, I’ve loved the cool beach air, but the warm, dry heat had a familiar feel to it:)
• We’re still driving to Crater Lake

Days 6 & 7 in Oregon

Life continues well for us! We are a bit chillier than all the Utah folk. (It's been in the 60s, but a welcome cooling off.)

Tuesday

• Drove to Yaquina Head to see the tide pools
• Came back to the beach house for lunch and naps
• Went to the beach for a lovely afternoon (it had to be higher that the 60s--no wind and I was perfectly comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt--Abby loved the water but I promise that it is really cold)
• Played Acquire after dinner (someone who's name starts with Mar- and ends with -inda won)
  

Wednesday

• Mike, Kaye, Tim, Katie, Kalyn and I went on a whale watching boat tour - it was lots of fun and, yes, we saw whales (even if it was only momentarily)
• Abby hung out with Grandpa, Bekah and Lance
• Drove out to Yaquina Head again and went to some better tide pools with very pretty sea urchins
• Returned to the beach house for lunch and naps (love the naps)
• Went to the beach again
• I finished The Wednesday Letters - lovely little book - I like the way it all came together at the end
• Happy Birthday to my dad!
  

Days 3, 4 & 5 in Oregon

Saturday –

• Left Stevenson and visited the Bonneville Dam and fish hatchery (great big turbines and very large fish)
• Drove the Historic Columbia River Highway and saw a few great waterfalls and beautiful views
• Arrived in Portland and ate lunch at the mall
• Took a while to find and park at the Rose Garden (lots of lovely roses)
• Some of us thought we had died and gone to heaven in the Tillamook Cheese FactoryJ (Mike is a manufacturing man and he loved deciphering the web of machines that eventually shot out little packages of cheese—Abby just loves cheese—I thought it was nice too)
• Arrived at the lovely beach house here in the Newport Area

Sunday –

• Went to church
• Took long naps
• It was our food day – We made German Pancakes and fruit for breakfast and fish tacos and broccoli for dinner
• We drove down to the chilly beach

Monday

• Mike drove into Corvallis and worked a half day checking out a machine builder
• Abby and I relaxed in the beach house
• In the afternoon we went to the beach to play in the sand and fly kites
• Played games in the evening