Kaylie's cool glasses!

Yesterday we got the call from Excel Eye Center that Kaylie's glasses were finally ready. When we picked them up she didn't seem to think things were too different she was just reveling in the novelty of the new glasses. We got in the car and drove to Burger King and as she was getting out of the car I guess she realized for the first time the texture of the pavement and parking lot. She didn't dare walk on it without holding mom or dad's hand. As she tried to step up onto the sidewalk the curb seemed daunting to her. She kept gingerly putting out her leg until finally she stepped up. We laughed and held her hand but it wasn't until we got into the restaurant that she started to really get scared of the floor and would not walk on the tile without us holding her hand. I guess she has never been able to distinguish between the tiles either and she desperately wanted us to take off the glasses. We told her that the floor has always been like that but she just couldn't see it before and that these glasses are going to help her eyes get better. She looked at Jeff's unshaven face and noticed for the first time the individual hairs on his chin. We had fun exploring her new world with her yesterday and are glad that she has decided she likes her glasses.

Nap time

Don't you wish your arms looked like this!

I went to check on Ashley this morning while she was taking her nap. I don't know how she sleeps like this. It scares me! I keep changing her position and she ends up like this and I have to make sure she's still breathing! She won't sleep on her back so I tried putting her on her side and she always rolls over onto her tummy even when I prop something behind her back.

Just wondering?

What ever happened to Glamour shots? Do you remember how they used to poof peoples hair up and put on TONS of makeup and have them pose like they thought they were a model?

Newsflash!

I took Kaylie to the Pediatric Opthamologist today to get her eyes checked. She sits kind of close to the TV and holds her books close and is very clumsy. Just a precaution right? She is so blind! She is getting her first glasses! Maybe some of you will understand what it means to be 550 points farsighted and to have an extremely bad astigmatism in both eyes. AKA coke bottle glasses. However, we opted for the more expensive not so coke bottle look! She picked out her little frames and we have to wait a week for them to order her prescription in. Yes that's right they don't keep prescriptions that strong on hand. Mine and Jeff's response to all this? We can't stop laughing! Is that rude or what, we just think it's so funny! We'll just have to see what our cute little four eyes will have to say about the world she lives in when she can see! Pictures will be following this post as soon as those slick blue metallic glasses get to come home with us!

Ouch!

Innocent little thing!

Today Kaylie bit Ashley! She left two sets of teeth marks on her leg, she isn't a biter normally and was shocked when mommy bit her back. After she cried and was sent to timeout in her room I went in to talk to her about what she did. She said she was sorry and then asked me if my mommy used to lock me in my room for being naughty, because that's what mommies do. So if Kaylie tells you that her mommy locks her in her room, she's right! And she deserved it tonight.

Look at that sweet little face! And the chubby cuteness!

The way sisters should be!

Phrases of the Day

"For Heaven sakes mom you made me cry! It's not fair!"
"Don't be rude to me anymore, okay mom!"
And the one that makes me laugh the hardest as we were reading scriptures tonight she wanted to tell me a story about Nephi and then one about "Sammy the Lammy" aka...Samuel the Lamanite! What a cutie.

Back from K-Ville!

Well I'm back to the great and dry state of Utah. Always nice to come home, especially when you can actually dry off after getting out of a shower. Three words can describe New Orleans in the middle of the summer- hot, muggy, and dirty. It was a good trip over all. The conference I went to was a training conference for the R.A.D. (rape aggression defense) and r.a.d. KIDS (resisting aggression defensively) organizations. These organizations are both personal empowerment programs designed to help the most vulnerable parts of our society to be able to stop the cycle of violence in their lives. The conference was a great refresher course for me after three years of time to forget parts of the program. I was lucky to be able to go with Mr. Dean another Deputy from the Sheriff's Office. Training did keep us busy for the majority of the time but we were able to sneak out a couple of times to check out the city. Most of the city smelled of vomit and urine, possibly due to the large amount of people who come out to the French Quarter to just drink and party. We did get to go and check out the National WWII Museum which was located not far from the hotel we stayed in. One night while we were out we saw some of the filming of a new mini series that took place on one of the streets in the French Quarter. The mini-series K-Ville is supposed too be about New Orleans Cops in post Katrina New Orleans. That was kind of cool. The Cajun food was a big plus on the trip but by far the best thing was the hot beignet's (French Doughnuts) from the Cafe Du Monde. I still must say it is very good to be HOME!

Mississippi river near it's mouth.

Downtown hot spot!

The shooting of the mini-series K-Ville

Beignet's, Oh so good!

Signs of a true Addict!

My birthday was about 2 weeks ago and my friend Stephanie made me a chocolate cake. It wasn't just any cake, it was Magleby's chocolate cake! If that doesn't mean anything to you then maybe you can't relate but it was sooooooo good. I grudgingly shared a piece with Jeff and a small sliver with Kaylie and I devoured the rest. Her mom helped her make it since she used to help make the desserts for Magleby's Restaurant. Of course I asked for the recipe and they can't give it to me. I understand and am glad for their example of integrity but I have been searching for the recipe ever since! I have looked just about everywhere. I found a recipe online that sounded really good and thought it might be a good copy cat. I spent all day letting the butter get just right and it called for sour cream and beaten egg whites folded into the batter etc..I was sooooo disappointed, when my cake was done it just tasted like chocolate cake, there was nothing special about it. If I could even just get the frosting recipe! My chocolate frosting always tastes like there's too much powdered sugar in it but the frosting and the cake she made me was soooo yummy. I have been dreaming about it the past few nights and last night in my dream I found the secret to the frosting. I was so happy when I woke up I really thought I knew the recipe but the more I woke up I realized that the skittles that were melted down to make the chocolate frosting in my dream to mask the powdered sugar taste wasn't quite right. So now I am disappointed and desperately wanting that recipe! I might just have to go down to Magleby's and beg and buy myself another entire cake! Pathetic!

Random happenings

Jeff has been in Louisiana this week so of course we sent the camera with him. However, I have wanted to use it several times! Maybe we should each have our own.... Kaylie drew all over her arms the other day with her not so washable markers so she got in "trouble". She got sent to her room for a timeout. Yesterday after I got home from work she saw the stretch marks on my belly and said, "Who has been drawing on your tummy? You are in "trouble" mom, TIMEOUT!" She proceeded to get a wash cloth to get the marker off my stomach but of course stretch marks don't just wipe off!! (Don't I wish!) I tried to tell her that it wasn't marker but she keeps telling me how naughty I am for drawing on my stomach. Today she didn't get a nap and she was exhausted. She threw a huge fit because she didn't want to come home from the neighbor's house she just wanted to jump on their trampoline. I made her come home and put her in the bath tub and got her cleaned up and tried to get her out so I let the water out and she didn't want to get out of the tub. I went downstairs to answer the phone and a few minutes later Kaylie yelled to me that she was ready to get out. I got off the phone after about 8 minutes and went upstairs to find she had fallen asleep in the bathtub with no water in it and was using her turtle as a pillow. It was so cute and I wish I could post a picture of it for you all but I wasn't smart enough to get my cell phone and take a picture. It's Thursday and Jeff comes home late tomorrow night! We can't wait to see daddy!

We have been wanting to go camping forever! So instead of talking about it anymore we decided to just go. We called the Butlers and asked them if they wanted to come with us and we went. It was really pretty and we had fun but next time we go I think we'll go somewhere a little bit closer. Jeff wanted to show us Electric Lake since I'd never been there and show us where he is going hunting. Our tinfoil dinners were delicious! My favorite part of camping is always the food, of course that's my favorite part of just about any function! We didn't get a picture of our tent but we finally have one! So if anyone wants to go camping we're game!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today was a great reminder of what the fourth of July means to so many of us Americans. I love the American Flag and was so happy to wake up this morning and to see so many flags on people's lawns. I got up early and went for a jog around the temple and saw all the hot air balloons flying in front of the mountains. There were some cool balloons! I liked the pink pig the best. We always have a brunch with Jeff's extended family on the fourth of July and it was really fun, of course the food is always good on holidays. We also had a barbecue later in the day at Grandma and Paca's house and then we went to the Stadium of Fire! It was great, they paid tribute to all those wonderful soldiers in Iraq and one of the guys that jumped out of the airplane at the beginning had an American Flag attached to him, it was cool. Of course, I love Brooks and Dunn and Corbin Bleu was good too. Kaylie had a blast dancing to the music but told us her favorite part of the night was the fireworks. There were some really cool flower fireworks, actually they were all cool so all in all it was a great day. We came home and did some sparklers but Kaylie didn't want to hold one, she wanted to watch. We tried to coax her into holding one but she is just as stubborn as Jeff is :) and wouldn't do it. The Stilwells all came over after the Stadium of Fire and did some sparklers with us. It's getting late and I'm tired so we hope you all had a wonderful fourth of July!

Sparkling Personalities

Happy Birthday JULIE!!!

Well it's a day late but none the less here it is. The one day a year that miss Julie Tracy can say "It's my Birthday". Julie has reached the magical age to which all women stop getting any older. She will now be forever 29. To you Julie, you are the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I can say that you are the most caring person I have ever met. You definitely deserve the happiest birthday imaginable. I hope that your day was a special one. So zippity-a and heidy ho there is something I can do. I'm singing a song that we all know, Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

Boy's and Their Toys

This past week Utah played host to the NSA (National Sheriff's Association) semi-annual convention. Sheriff's from all over the country came to receive training and to attend meetings of all sorts. With an event like this there are a lot of neat events such as shooting and golf tournaments, and O' the toys. Unfortunately yours truly was not able to attend. I was able to check out a very cool S.W.A.T. Toy. Arizona's state police department were picking up their armored personnel carrier for the S.W.A.T team. My pops ran into them at the convention and ending up offering them to stay in our barracks for the night. They took him up on the offer and were able to park their new gadget mobile in the county's wild land fire team hanger. I was able to snag some sweet pics. It just goes to show that some jobs are funner to do when you have the right tools.