Snow Day

School was cancelled this last Wednesday and no buses were running. I had not brought home any of my schoolwork so I had an excuse to play with girls! Ruby didn't last too long outside (just look at those cold cheeks). She must get that from Megan. We didn't get that much snow (by Utah's standards), but we did have a snow drift in the back big enough to build a snow fort. I like the progression that Megan caught on camera with Anne checking out her fort. Getting in; uncertain; loving it.

We can't wait to see family and friends in another week!

Christmas Time!

We couldn't find the hoop that we usually use to make our wreath... I'm proud of my lashing to make the hoop out of some branches.

Our finest ornaments are by far the one's Megan makes. (And that's not just because our other ornaments are mom's rejects that I pilfered a few years ago.)

I love Christmas.

Puss in Boots

What is the attraction?

Happy Halloweeeeen!

I think Megan did a great job on a new costume for Anne this year. She didn't quite make it to the cape (maybe next year), but I don't think anyone missed it. Ruby fit nicely into the ladybug costume that Megan made for Anne a few years ago. It's fun to see Megan's creativity on the girls.

I really love the spider in the hat and the gloves kept her hands reasonably warm this year!

Eyes on the prize!

We told them to both choose a treat and they both chose the gold fish. Go figure.

I went into the bathroom this morning and found Ruby in the sink playing with the vanity. (Don't you love our beautiful bathroom. It's going to be hard leaving this place.)

Scary!!! Happy Halloween!

Something new to look at!

I know I've been so bad about blogging for the past while. We have been enjoying all the groups we joined lately--play group, babysitting group, date night group, and letter group. Becoming a groupie has really spiced up our lives. More to come soon with Halloween pictures and all. For now, here is a little of Anne and a lot of Ruby.

The highlight of Randy's day (and mine) is coming home from school. Ruby and Anne go crazy. Ruby was so excited this day that she started somersaulting. She's really close to doing it by herself, actually!

Ruby is always finding a way to get into things. Just look at that face

She was on her way down from the top of the mattress by the time Randy got the camera.

The girls like Reading with Randy too.

Lota Stuffus

Here are a bunch of photos of things we've been doing lately. Too much has happened since our last post...

These are from the Iowa State Fair. It was huge and a lot of fun. I think almost any food you get there comes on a STICK!

We took this while waiting in line to see the mama pigs with all the little baby piggies. Can you read Anne's hat?

Probably the thing Randy and I enjoyed the most was this one man band. He was seriously good! It was fascinating to watch him play.

Here is clifford. We asked Anne if she wanted to have her picture taken with him and to our surprise she did. So we waited in line and got this picture! Needless to say, Anne was a bit nervous to be too close to him. She had given him a hug and was out of there faster than the time between me pushing the button and the camera actually clicking.

So... after much pep-talking and preparation, she stood there long enough for this. We were very proud of her.

FORTS! (Need I say more??)

The Last Swim of the Summer

Funny girls at snack time.

Anne and I were bored one afternoon during Ruby's nap, so we did a photo shoot. I'm no photographer, but we had fun.

Then Anne got a turn with the camera.

Ada Hayden Park. We love it here. It is great for finding frogs (but not touching them) and throwing rocks and getting muddy. We love it here.

Life has picked up again with school in full sway. Randy is busy, busy, busy, so that means I am too. It is good to get a good schedule going again. Randy is teaching Statistics 101 this semester and to help him prepare, he lectures to me the night before. I think if I were to be enrolled in the class I could totally get an A this time through ;)

For Paige: Swimmin' Soups and Sun Scream

I (Randy) took a week off and we all had a great week together. We did some 'camping' (Iowa style) at a camp owned by a couple of stakes out here. It has a lovely river that Anne was enjoying swimming in and looking at all the little fish. Ruby and Anne also had fun riding in the mini handcarts they have to help you load your gear from the parking areas to your site. When we got to the camp we were the only ones there, but I had noticed when we registered that there was one other family. But since there are a ton of camp sites, I figured it would feel like we had the place to ourselves. After unloading the car and setting up camp, we put on our 'swimmin soups' (as Anne calls them) and went down to the river to play. Upon our return a few hours later, we noticed the other family had arrived and was unloading their minivan and setting up camp right next to ours! Imagine, the whole place (large enough to hold stake camps) and this family sets up RIGHT next to us. So we laughed it off, took down our camp and moved to an even better sight on the other side of the property.

The second site.

This is me admiring my smoke. It took me a long time to get to this point. It's just amazing how, even though we had not had rain for several weeks, all the wood was still damp. It was never this hard in Utah! I did finally succeed in getting a nice fire before dark though.

We had been hearing about Reiman Gardens, a mini version of Thanksgiving Point that ISU owns. Only Reiman Gardens has a magnificent butterfly enclosure. The USDA imports a bunch of butterflies from around the globe and they show them off and breed them here. The butterflies are available to see in this large glass room filled with tropical plants. I thought Anne would really enjoy seeing the butterflies, and she did. Only not the live ones. She enjoyed looking at the dead ones posted up on the wall. When we got into the room and the butterflies were flying all around her, she got very scared and started screaming bloody murder (sorry for the choice of expression Paige, but I'm serious). You'd have thought they were eating her. Seeing as how the room is a glass enclosure, her screaming got her outta there p.d.q. Were successful in getting her to go back in a few hours later to giving it another try before we left . She was pretty nervous at first, but by the time we had made the loop around the room, she didn't want to leave. Success!

Since it's free for students and Anne gets in free still, Anne and I went back the next day and enjoyed it all again. We had forgotten the camera the first time, so I took these pictures of Anne on day two.

Do you see all the butterflies...? No? I swear there were 10 or so when I took this picture.

They showcase the cocoons of the moths and butterflies. This was a giant moth that had just come out. It's wing span was about as wide as Anne's head.

Here's Anne digging fossils.

We also got a pool pass for the month. Anne just loves going to the "deep pool" with her water wings. She does pretty good with them, but still has a hard time going under the water. I also get a kick out of how aware she is of the need for sunscreen (or sunscream as she calls it). She does not like being in the sun without protection. And it's a good thing too, since her pale skin still glows in the sun. Though I did notice this morning that she has the faintest swimming suit lines on her skin: white and slightly pink.

Sorry, no pictures from the pool. (As if I haven't already posted a plethora of pictures already. Yes, we watched 'The Three Amigos' a few days ago.)

Tomorrow we're off to the state fair. Which as I understand is the largest state fair in the nation, depending on who you ask. Some argue that Minnesota's might be bigger. But that argument usually gets quickly swatted away by any others present.

Cheers Paige, we miss you.