I’m a busy blogger so I haven’t posted anything for awhile. Until recently, the weather was very mild. We’ve been lucky to be able to spend so much time outdoors.
For Halloween, Avery and I went to a big neighborhood party. She was Mulan and looked gorgeous. Her favorite princesses are Mulan and Pocahantas. Dex and Trevin both had strep throat, so they stayed home and slept on the couch. In fact, when I got home from the party, Dex was asleep standing up. Check out the photo below!
In November, we celebrated my mom’s birthday. We had a big, Italian dinner at our house and even took a photo with the entire family. The next week, we headed south for a little fun in the sun in St. George (but it wasn’t very warm.) We spent Thanksgiving with the Wallin family. Avery had the time of her life playing with her cousins for four straight days.
At the end of the month, it was Trevin’s birthday so we had a little party with him at home. We even made crème brulee. Yummy!
Most recently, we returned from Florida. We spent a couple days in Disney World and couple days in West Palm Beach. We stayed with our good friends, Chris, Robin, and Carter Christiansen. We played and the park, went to the beach, and swam in their pool while it snowed in Utah! Dex loved the sand and Avery was stung on her knee by a man-o-war.
We are enjoying the holiday season. Avery and Dex are getting excited about Christmas and most importantly are excited to spend more time with our families. May you find peace in you lives during this time of the year.
<
Friday, December 14, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Finishing October
Although our birthday month has come and gone, we had a really eventful October finale. My friend Natalie was in town since she was evacuated from the San Diego fires, so we took our kids to the Discovery Gateway Museum.
Dex got his new truck and loves riding it around the neighborhood. The only problem is the short battery-life! We get half way around the block and then have to go get my car to tow it home :)
Dex tested positive for strep on Halloween, so yes, he really did feel as sad as he looks in the pictures. Avery was the most beautiful princess in the neighborhood. Since Trevin was also been under the weather the past week, Avery and I went to a Halloween block party and had a blast! The boys stayed home and napped. Neither one of them had the energy to find a comfortable place to nap. Dex fell asleep standing!
It was a great month for photos here, I hope November can top it!
Dex got his new truck and loves riding it around the neighborhood. The only problem is the short battery-life! We get half way around the block and then have to go get my car to tow it home :)
Dex tested positive for strep on Halloween, so yes, he really did feel as sad as he looks in the pictures. Avery was the most beautiful princess in the neighborhood. Since Trevin was also been under the weather the past week, Avery and I went to a Halloween block party and had a blast! The boys stayed home and napped. Neither one of them had the energy to find a comfortable place to nap. Dex fell asleep standing!
It was a great month for photos here, I hope November can top it!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Dex is 2!
We had a whole week of festivities for Dex. He is having so much fun with all the "boy" toys that he received for his birthday. A fire engine, a train set, a tool box, a firefighter jacket and boots. He's going to be a "hire highter" for Halloween. Trevin finally put his foot down with Dex taking purses everywhere he goes and declaring pink as his favorite color!
Last weekend, Avery learned to ride a 4-Wheeler with her cousin. Even though she liked it, she still remains firm with her ambition to be a trick horse rider at rodeos when she grows up.
I will be 31 on Wednesday. Thank goodness that the whole 30 thing is finished. I didn't care much for that particular birthday. We really celebrate birthday months around here thanks to my friend Lor :)
Click on the slideshow for enlarged photos!
Last weekend, Avery learned to ride a 4-Wheeler with her cousin. Even though she liked it, she still remains firm with her ambition to be a trick horse rider at rodeos when she grows up.
I will be 31 on Wednesday. Thank goodness that the whole 30 thing is finished. I didn't care much for that particular birthday. We really celebrate birthday months around here thanks to my friend Lor :)
Click on the slideshow for enlarged photos!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Yipee! The grass is in and it looks great. The builder finished the very last touch-up on the list for our house yesterday which is probably record time. Trevin was very persistent to remind them of the pending projects.
Preschool is going great for Avery. A couple of times a week, we’ve continued our own little “school” program while Dex naps and she really seems to be catching on to reading. Just the other day she was shopping with Sam and Meg and saw a t-shirt. She giggled to herself and said, “Hey, that says,’Hug Me, I’m Too Cute.’” Sam and Meg couldn’t believe it.
We had a fun weekend in Park City with my mom and sisters while my dad and all the brother-in-laws went hunting in Wyoming. I forgot my camera though so just the memories will have too do. Actually, I put my camera in my purse so I wouldn’t forget it and then I forgot my purse. ☺
Dex will turn two next week. We haven’t planned much and I’m not sure what to do for a birthday cake. Any suggestions? He is totally in to trains right now.
Trevin has done several Lasik cases now, is operating regularly, and is building a good patient base. Luckily, business seems to be booming.
I am still working for the local school district despite the excessive amount of work for my short two days a week. I did convince them to hire a staff speech pathologist and they are posting a listing!
Trevin’s dad, Grandpa Craig, helped make a great magnet board for our mud room. Now we have our own little art museum. The kids love it! And so do I especially since it’s located in the mud room.
Everyone around here is healthy and happy and enjoying a beautiful Utah Autumn.
Preschool is going great for Avery. A couple of times a week, we’ve continued our own little “school” program while Dex naps and she really seems to be catching on to reading. Just the other day she was shopping with Sam and Meg and saw a t-shirt. She giggled to herself and said, “Hey, that says,’Hug Me, I’m Too Cute.’” Sam and Meg couldn’t believe it.
We had a fun weekend in Park City with my mom and sisters while my dad and all the brother-in-laws went hunting in Wyoming. I forgot my camera though so just the memories will have too do. Actually, I put my camera in my purse so I wouldn’t forget it and then I forgot my purse. ☺
Dex will turn two next week. We haven’t planned much and I’m not sure what to do for a birthday cake. Any suggestions? He is totally in to trains right now.
Trevin has done several Lasik cases now, is operating regularly, and is building a good patient base. Luckily, business seems to be booming.
I am still working for the local school district despite the excessive amount of work for my short two days a week. I did convince them to hire a staff speech pathologist and they are posting a listing!
Trevin’s dad, Grandpa Craig, helped make a great magnet board for our mud room. Now we have our own little art museum. The kids love it! And so do I especially since it’s located in the mud room.
Everyone around here is healthy and happy and enjoying a beautiful Utah Autumn.
Friday, September 7, 2007
End-of-summer update
Since today was Avery's first day of school, I thought I would recap the rest of our summer. It was not as crazy as the beginning, but we stayed busy nonetheless.
Avery did a lot of swimming this summer and became very confident in the pool. One evening, we swam at a friend's pool where the heater had been left on for a long time. Avery was in the pool for over 3 hours! She even went swimming in a geological crater this summer.
For the first time in Dex's life and the second time in Avery's (and the 27th time for Courtney), we attended the Annual Bleggi Family Reunion. Every year in August the 5 generation Bleggi family gets together for a weekend in the mountains. Most people have stopped camping and just come for the day, but not Avery and me. We set up a tent and roughed it! On Sunday morning we ran races and dug for treasures in saw dust. The eye doctor isn't particulary fond on the former activity :) The very next day, we went to the Wallin family reunion for 3 days at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah. We danced the tooty-tot, played lots of fun games, won prizes at Bunco, and met cousins that we didn't know we had. We had a blast.
In between all of these festivities we have been raking and raking and raking and.... raking rocks. They are literally multiplying right before our eyes. We are hoping to have sod layed in a few weeks. Our secondary water is turned off on October 15th so cross your fingers that we will make it! The sprinklers are going in this weekend. Then we get to do more.... raking!
Since we did so much raking, we needed a little break. So, for our 9th anniversary Trevin and I went to Jackson, Wyoming for a couple of days. There is nothing like a little dose of heaven to remind you of the important things in life. A weekend in the mountains is rejuvenating. If you don't believe me, come visit us soon!
Just so I didn't completely forget what reality is really like, I started back to work a couple of weeks ago. I have agreed to work 12 hours a week for Morgan School District, although it is about a 60 hour per week job. Hopefully that simmers down a bit.
Dex has spent a lot of time with his sister and the neighborhood girls as the photos indicate. Although pink is his favorite color, he is still all boy! He has learned to jump off the side of the pool with very little fear. Both Dex and Avery have spent a lot of time being sprayed down by the hose since the activity of choice around here is making mud pies.
Avery turned 5! Unfortunately she had a stomach bug for 2 weeks and it was right in the middle of the birthday celebration. We had planned to meet all of her cousins at the local pool, but when we got there they told us it was closed to kids 5 and under because of cryptosporidium (a nasty bug terrorizing public pools). So luckily, Nana Ann's sister let us scramble and have the party at her pool. We were very grateful to her for our last minute intrusion.
With Avery finally on the mend. We went to Pineview Resevoir for a fun Labor Day afternoon. Well, I better wrap this up and get to bed. We are going to have an early morning with the yard.
Avery did a lot of swimming this summer and became very confident in the pool. One evening, we swam at a friend's pool where the heater had been left on for a long time. Avery was in the pool for over 3 hours! She even went swimming in a geological crater this summer.
For the first time in Dex's life and the second time in Avery's (and the 27th time for Courtney), we attended the Annual Bleggi Family Reunion. Every year in August the 5 generation Bleggi family gets together for a weekend in the mountains. Most people have stopped camping and just come for the day, but not Avery and me. We set up a tent and roughed it! On Sunday morning we ran races and dug for treasures in saw dust. The eye doctor isn't particulary fond on the former activity :) The very next day, we went to the Wallin family reunion for 3 days at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah. We danced the tooty-tot, played lots of fun games, won prizes at Bunco, and met cousins that we didn't know we had. We had a blast.
In between all of these festivities we have been raking and raking and raking and.... raking rocks. They are literally multiplying right before our eyes. We are hoping to have sod layed in a few weeks. Our secondary water is turned off on October 15th so cross your fingers that we will make it! The sprinklers are going in this weekend. Then we get to do more.... raking!
Since we did so much raking, we needed a little break. So, for our 9th anniversary Trevin and I went to Jackson, Wyoming for a couple of days. There is nothing like a little dose of heaven to remind you of the important things in life. A weekend in the mountains is rejuvenating. If you don't believe me, come visit us soon!
Just so I didn't completely forget what reality is really like, I started back to work a couple of weeks ago. I have agreed to work 12 hours a week for Morgan School District, although it is about a 60 hour per week job. Hopefully that simmers down a bit.
Dex has spent a lot of time with his sister and the neighborhood girls as the photos indicate. Although pink is his favorite color, he is still all boy! He has learned to jump off the side of the pool with very little fear. Both Dex and Avery have spent a lot of time being sprayed down by the hose since the activity of choice around here is making mud pies.
Avery turned 5! Unfortunately she had a stomach bug for 2 weeks and it was right in the middle of the birthday celebration. We had planned to meet all of her cousins at the local pool, but when we got there they told us it was closed to kids 5 and under because of cryptosporidium (a nasty bug terrorizing public pools). So luckily, Nana Ann's sister let us scramble and have the party at her pool. We were very grateful to her for our last minute intrusion.
With Avery finally on the mend. We went to Pineview Resevoir for a fun Labor Day afternoon. Well, I better wrap this up and get to bed. We are going to have an early morning with the yard.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
The dust is settling!
After much resistence to entering into another digital/electronic addiction, here I am. On June 12 the kids and I left Michigan. And although we spent the final 3 or 4 days in Michigan saying goodbye, it is more difficult to think about those goodbyes now than it was then. We were so busy and had so much going on that we didn’t really have time to process it. Now that the dust is settling, and we have time to reflect on the wonderful friendships and memories that we create, there is definitely a void. Oh how I wish I could borrow an egg from Kim or send Avery to Emma’s for the afternoon. I wish Tanya would call for a spontaneous trip to the park or Kathy would drop Anna off for an afternoon of dress-ups. I wish Rebecca would walk through the common area for a late afternoon popsicle and feel-sorry-for-ourselves session. I wish Mary was there so I could get some sound advice and a caring babysitter for a quick trip into Ann Arbor. I wish Jonah, Ethan, and Seth would ring the doorbell during Dex’s nap ☺ or Claire would knock on the door with her bath baby in tow. I long for Evan and Nathan to beat us outside after dinner for t-ball and bubbles. I can hear the automatic ball tosser now. I would give anything if I could email John and he would be over in 3 minutes to fix my printer, eat a bowl of soup, and talk Trevin into buying me the new iPhone! I miss the great babysitters on my street. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve moved into a great neighborhood, but it will never, ever be Cambridge Drive in Dexter Crossing.
Well anyway… Here’s what we’ve been during the past seven weeks in Utah… We spent the first week just getting used to life in the desert. Scorching temperatures, dry skin, open freeways. But we also reacquainted with family and friends, and the MOUNTAINS. I helped the movers unloaded all of our boxes and furniture into our garage while Trevin finished his work in Michigan. We also started to give the builders a gentle nudge since not much had been accomplished since February. The kids and I had a chance to go to my parents cabin to check it out. We can’t wait until it is finished so we can spend some time there. Hopefully we will be able to get a yard in at our home so we can offer some help there soon. Very soon!
After 10 days in Utah, I flew back to Michigan with Trevin’s mom to attend his graduation. The kids stayed with my sister and her husband, Samantha and Jesse. The graduation was really nice and we had a great time in Ann Arbor childless. We stayed at Weber’s Inn, had lunch at Zingerman’s, dinner at The Quarter, and took the Ford Rouge Factory Tour. Then I flew back to Utah. Trevin stayed in Michigan for the final week of his residency. Meanwhile, the kids and I went to the all Utah County swimming pools to stay cool, barbequed, and just hung out. All the while, nudging the builder more and more.
The next weekend, I flew to Michigan again. This time I went to drive across the country with Trevin. Sam generously offered to take the kids again. I took the red-eye flight to Detroit, so when I landed I went to John’s house (where Trevin was staying) and slept for a few hours. I spent the afternoon and had lunch with Kim and Holly. After a few final errands (closing bank accounts, forwarding mail, etc.), we began our cross-country trek.
We first drove a couple of hours to the little Amish town Shipshewana, Indiana. We had an authentic Amish meal there and continued our travels toward Nauvoo, Illinois.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauvoo
After Nauvoo, we drove a very long way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Nebraska was incredibly beautiful with rolling hills of corn. We stayed the night in Sioux Falls on the eastern edge of South Dakota bordering Minnesota and Iowa and a couple of hours north of Omaha, Nebraska. The following day we drove to Rapid City, South Dakota home of Mount Rushmore. On our way we stopped at Wall Drug Store.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Drug
About 45 minutes after Wall Drug, we arrived at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, near Keystone, South Dakota. We thoroughly enjoyed Mt. Rushmore. We spent about an hour there and then started our drive toward Wyoming. The drive through South Dakota and Wyoming were both very dry although the Black Hills were beautiful and very green. We drove to Casper, Wyoming where we welcomed the sight of an Outback Steakhouse. We were starving after our cheap burger at Wall Drug nine hours prior.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Rushmore
After a night’s stay in Casper, we were on the home stretch. We did make a spontaneous stop at Martin’s Cove. It is a historic site in Wyoming. It is located on the Mormon Trail and is also part of the North Platte-Sweetwater segment of the Oregon Trail. While overlooking this landmark, we both noted that all of our stops had been on hallowed ground. We felt a peaceful, somber feeling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin%27s_Cove
We rolled ahead for a final 4 or 5 hours skipping lunch for Luis’s, a delicious Mexican Restaurant not far from our new home. We arrived at 4 p.m only to find that he wasn’t open on Monday evenings. We settled for Taco Time at the local Chevron. After some unloading and repacking we headed 90 miles south to reunite with our kids.
In the following two weeks, Trevin spent several days in Mountain Green trying to keep the progress on our home moving forward. We jumped around from my parents' and Trevins’ mom’s doing our best not to outstay our welcome (which we probably did!) We did get to spend a few days recreating at the lake and water park. We went to a festive annual July 4th get-together with the Winegar family. Finally, one week after our planned move-in date and five long weeks after leaving Michigan, we spent the night at our new home on Friday, July 13.
On Monday, July 23 Trevin started his new job and was lucky enough to get the next day off, as it was a State holiday. And, so far so good. He seems to be enjoying it so far. I had a brief introduction to the district that I will be working and it is very rural to say the least. More to come regarding that I’m sure.
Since we’ve been in our home, we have had a lot of the recreational opportunities that we missed so much. From our front door, we can hike, mountain bike, and road bike. Within 10-15 minutes of our home there is a ski resort and a reservoir. We went swimming at the reservoir last Thursday night and had a blast!
We have had lots of friends and family who have been very helpful and supportive during this moving process whether is has been letting us stay with them, lifting our heaving boxes, watching our kids, or helping us clean. We have appreciated all of the help. We have met new neighbors that we are anxious to get to know better, especially Avery. We still need to digest everything to know if we would “do it again!”
FYI... Pardon my formatting issues, I'm sure this will improve over time. To see entire gradution banquet photo, click on it. It will enlarge. Also, copy and paste the URL addresses in the text for more info about the places we visited on our trip. Last thing, it's 12:20 am so please ignore the typos :)
Well anyway… Here’s what we’ve been during the past seven weeks in Utah… We spent the first week just getting used to life in the desert. Scorching temperatures, dry skin, open freeways. But we also reacquainted with family and friends, and the MOUNTAINS. I helped the movers unloaded all of our boxes and furniture into our garage while Trevin finished his work in Michigan. We also started to give the builders a gentle nudge since not much had been accomplished since February. The kids and I had a chance to go to my parents cabin to check it out. We can’t wait until it is finished so we can spend some time there. Hopefully we will be able to get a yard in at our home so we can offer some help there soon. Very soon!
After 10 days in Utah, I flew back to Michigan with Trevin’s mom to attend his graduation. The kids stayed with my sister and her husband, Samantha and Jesse. The graduation was really nice and we had a great time in Ann Arbor childless. We stayed at Weber’s Inn, had lunch at Zingerman’s, dinner at The Quarter, and took the Ford Rouge Factory Tour. Then I flew back to Utah. Trevin stayed in Michigan for the final week of his residency. Meanwhile, the kids and I went to the all Utah County swimming pools to stay cool, barbequed, and just hung out. All the while, nudging the builder more and more.
The next weekend, I flew to Michigan again. This time I went to drive across the country with Trevin. Sam generously offered to take the kids again. I took the red-eye flight to Detroit, so when I landed I went to John’s house (where Trevin was staying) and slept for a few hours. I spent the afternoon and had lunch with Kim and Holly. After a few final errands (closing bank accounts, forwarding mail, etc.), we began our cross-country trek.
We first drove a couple of hours to the little Amish town Shipshewana, Indiana. We had an authentic Amish meal there and continued our travels toward Nauvoo, Illinois.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauvoo
After Nauvoo, we drove a very long way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Nebraska was incredibly beautiful with rolling hills of corn. We stayed the night in Sioux Falls on the eastern edge of South Dakota bordering Minnesota and Iowa and a couple of hours north of Omaha, Nebraska. The following day we drove to Rapid City, South Dakota home of Mount Rushmore. On our way we stopped at Wall Drug Store.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Drug
About 45 minutes after Wall Drug, we arrived at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, near Keystone, South Dakota. We thoroughly enjoyed Mt. Rushmore. We spent about an hour there and then started our drive toward Wyoming. The drive through South Dakota and Wyoming were both very dry although the Black Hills were beautiful and very green. We drove to Casper, Wyoming where we welcomed the sight of an Outback Steakhouse. We were starving after our cheap burger at Wall Drug nine hours prior.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Rushmore
After a night’s stay in Casper, we were on the home stretch. We did make a spontaneous stop at Martin’s Cove. It is a historic site in Wyoming. It is located on the Mormon Trail and is also part of the North Platte-Sweetwater segment of the Oregon Trail. While overlooking this landmark, we both noted that all of our stops had been on hallowed ground. We felt a peaceful, somber feeling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin%27s_Cove
We rolled ahead for a final 4 or 5 hours skipping lunch for Luis’s, a delicious Mexican Restaurant not far from our new home. We arrived at 4 p.m only to find that he wasn’t open on Monday evenings. We settled for Taco Time at the local Chevron. After some unloading and repacking we headed 90 miles south to reunite with our kids.
In the following two weeks, Trevin spent several days in Mountain Green trying to keep the progress on our home moving forward. We jumped around from my parents' and Trevins’ mom’s doing our best not to outstay our welcome (which we probably did!) We did get to spend a few days recreating at the lake and water park. We went to a festive annual July 4th get-together with the Winegar family. Finally, one week after our planned move-in date and five long weeks after leaving Michigan, we spent the night at our new home on Friday, July 13.
On Monday, July 23 Trevin started his new job and was lucky enough to get the next day off, as it was a State holiday. And, so far so good. He seems to be enjoying it so far. I had a brief introduction to the district that I will be working and it is very rural to say the least. More to come regarding that I’m sure.
Since we’ve been in our home, we have had a lot of the recreational opportunities that we missed so much. From our front door, we can hike, mountain bike, and road bike. Within 10-15 minutes of our home there is a ski resort and a reservoir. We went swimming at the reservoir last Thursday night and had a blast!
We have had lots of friends and family who have been very helpful and supportive during this moving process whether is has been letting us stay with them, lifting our heaving boxes, watching our kids, or helping us clean. We have appreciated all of the help. We have met new neighbors that we are anxious to get to know better, especially Avery. We still need to digest everything to know if we would “do it again!”
FYI... Pardon my formatting issues, I'm sure this will improve over time. To see entire gradution banquet photo, click on it. It will enlarge. Also, copy and paste the URL addresses in the text for more info about the places we visited on our trip. Last thing, it's 12:20 am so please ignore the typos :)
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