We were at Kid to Kid the other day finding a few Sunday items for some of the kids and Clara had to go to the bathroom. We headed in and she sat down and noticed an alphabet border around the walls. While we were sitting there waiting, I sang "every letter makes a sound the A says..." Clara: "AAAAAA" and so on. I figured she could get to D. And then she just kept going. and she got all the way to Z. I could not believe it. I was doing a jig in the bathroom stall and she was smiling from ear to ear so proud of herself. The minute the kids got into the car when we picked them up at the park after school, she was showing them she knew all the ABC sounds. And right when Ryan showed up from work, she was on it. I was so proud of her. The Letter Factory works. Today at Stake Conference she had a boogie board and was writing her letters and got all the way to Q (I had to remind her of a few). It's amazing to me.
WHen we were driving to pick up the kids from the school the other day she said, "Mom, evergreen trees are special. They never lose their fur. That's what Cara told me when we went to Texas."
She is such a smarty pants. She is so social and talks to everyone about anything and I think it helps her to pick up on things that she seems young to know or have heard (good or bad :)).
She never wants to be left out of anything. The older kids can't go on the tramp without her, or on a bike ride, or she cries if they go to friends house without her, etc. She is growing up so quickly.
Inserting some
November photo happenings...especially Ryan's incredible work trip for 8-9 days to Sydney and Melbourne Australia.
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| We subbed for a indoor co-ed soccer team and really had a lot of fun. And kind of felt old. I scored a goal! |
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| We made applesauce and dried apples for a few weeks I think. |
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| Blake and CLara going over to invite Kuya our neighbor to come to church with them. |
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| He picked up something in Texas over THanksgiving that got so bad we had to go into the doctor and he got a steroid shot to slow down his immune system and get it back under control. |
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| New Beginnings for 2018, on a stake level |
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| Flying into Australia for the first time |
DECEMBER
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| December preschool days--painting a scene from "Snowy Day" |
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| Hallie's homemade face paint;) |
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| Eye appointment for this girl |

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| Caroling with Haynies--2nd year its been at our house and we've caroled in our neighborhood. Last year we sang the Cougar fight song at Catons house, this year we hit up the Johnsons and it was so classic. Ed Johnson went running from the door to get his Utah shirt |
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| I posted this on IG, but Robbie was my hero this day for cleaning up the kitchen without being asked on a tough pregnancy sickness night. |
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| The Winter Strings showcase |
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| Our ward Christmas breakfast--we took the Polar Express to the North Pole. The kids heard the story with sound effects, their was amazing decorations, they got "tickets" from the conductor and the Bishop went around stamping their tickets, and they wrote notes to Santa. |
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| A Sunday visit to Temple Square to see the lights. We had good timing, we got there right before dark and missed the crowds. |
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| We drove down to AZ a few days after Christmas (after 2-3 days of recovering from a stomach bug--the whole family got hit Christmas night) and it was beautiful perfect weather and a packed week of activities/hanging out. We told the kids we were pregnant for Christmas and announced it to our families too. I was only 10-11 weeks at that point though. We had an adult night out one night with broom hockey and dinner at a great Mexican restaurant, girls New Years shopping day with a really nice lunch at a golf course, a family 5K, game night for prizes, lots of playing outside at Erika's and Laura's (our family slept in an RV outside), activities with grandma and grandpa etc. I felt pretty sick a lot of it, but it didn't stop us from having so much fun! |
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| Stop at Hoover Dam so the kids could see it on our way down |
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| Date night to a Jazz game for Ryan and I |
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| Robbie chose NH for his state report and project |