Labor Day Campout

We took the girls camping on Friday. We headed up to Prescott and it was great to get out of the heat for a bit. Camping is a lot of work, but always worth it!

Worst Moments:

*Mom getting carsick on the way up and heaving on the side of the road
*Being attacked by large flying beetles as soon as it got dark
*Feeling the beetles crawl under our tent all night long
*Motorcycle/ATV riders out until 4 a.m.

Best Moments:

*Cyrena helping Dad with camping duties (tent, fire, etc.)
*Natalie eating and eating and eating
*Cooling off our feet in the creek and throwing rocks in the water
*Cyrena becoming a true camper by relieving herself in the great ol' outdoors
*Watching the girls cuddle in their sleep
*Talking and laughing quietly through a sleepless night (just mom and dad, the girls slept great)
*Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows
*Dad making us tasty hot chocolate in the morning
*Having fun and making memories

Cooling off in the creek

Breaking up firewood

Hot dogs, fruit, and chips

Doesn't get much better than this

Enjoying every sip of her hot chocolate

Camping face...dirty and satisfied

Exploring

Fading August

As August draws to a close I keep thinking of all the little things that have happened this month that I need to document for my memory's sake. Let's see if I can remember everything, and please don't feel obligated to read it all.

Preschool is going really well. The first day I didn't think Natalie was going to survive because she was driving me crazy getting into everything and distracting the kids with her antics. But she has completely settled down and now seems to be another student. She knows all their names and gets excited when they come. She has taken up the hobby of cutting....oh boy. She just wanders in and out of the room, colors a bit, watches PBS kids, listens to storytime, sings songs with us, etc. Oh, and snacktime is her favorite of course.

Natalie's new thing is to say, "Okay Mom", "Why, Mom?" and 'Hi Mom" And keep in mind that she draws out the words into several syllables. It's quite funny. She also does a great impression of Cyrena's exasperated sigh when she's frustrated. Time out works wonders with her but luckily we don't have to do it too often. She loves to sing songs and recite/read books--you would think you're breaking her heart when you tell her that we've read enough books and it's time for bed. She has super funny expressions which always make us laugh and she's usually willing to give a big hug and kiss when we request it, or when she wants to delay bedtime. She's a tasty little one. Good thing because she is a MENACE around the house, getting into EVERYTHING. This is new territory for me since Cyrena was not like that at all.

Cyrena is so lucky to have good friends in the preschool, all late birthdays like her. She is miss social and wants to have a playdate EVERYday. I have to limit her to just a couple times a week. She's still enjoying reading and math. Her favorite book to read right now is 'Green Eggs and Ham' by Dr. Seuss. She's at the point where she can read most words except for super tricky ones with silent letters or of course words that are quite big. She has memorized a lot of sight words (ie. come, like, here, etc.) just by exposure so that is great and makes for smoother reading. She is so happy when she can read a big book!


Cyrena is our 'straight arrow' and is pretty obedient the majority of the time. She continues to love church and her scriptures. Her anxiety has gotten SO much better, she rarely has a problem and is a lot easier to calm down than she used to be. Thank goodness. She is growing up a LOT.

She went with me to vote last week and has been playing 'voting' ever since. She has a tablet and makes me sign my name and everything. It's all very official.

Earlier this month, I turned the big 3-0! It was a fun birthday thanks to many of my good friends and family. Cyrena was so excited, you would have thought it was her birthday. We were out of town during my birthday but when we got home my amazingly talented friend brought me a beautiful birthday cake!!!
If you need a cake for ANY occasion check her out (sweet b cakes), she's fabulous! Thanks so much Becca!

David has been busy at work which is such a good thing. He survives on less than 8 hours of sleep which is a big deal for him--he didn't think he'd ever be able to do that! He gets a good weekend nap so that helps a bit. He usually leaves for work around 5:30 a.m. and gets home between 6:30 and 7. So that leaves us about 45 minutes to an hour as a family, which is made up of dinner, cleaning up, baths, scriptures, and bedtime routines. Then he goes to bed by 9:30.

So for that reason we are trying to move to the East Valley (Mesa/Gilbert) so we can cut his 90 minute commute down to around 20 minutes. Our house is currently under contract and we're just waiting and waiting and waiting for bank approval to move forward with a close date. We don't want to leave our house and ward but know it's important to be together as a family, especially with another baby girl coming in a few short months.

I'm 21 weeks along now and still feeling great. I am very lucky to be healthy. The baby is getting more active but David still hasn't been able to feel her...soon hopefully.

So here's to an unpredictable Fall which should be full of fun, birthdays, stress, and adventure!

Once, Twice, Three Times A Lady

That's right, Baby Girl Dean #3 is on her way! She will make her debut by the end of the year, or shortly thereafter. To say we're shocked is an understatement. I guess we shouldn't be. I've been convinced it's a boy every single pregnancy and it's always a girl! Cyrena was/is a little disappointed since she's been praying EVERYday for a baby brother. She even blesses the food that it will help me have a boy. And I'll admit I was hoping a mellow boy might balance the family a bit. This baby was very mellow during the ultrasound whereas the other girls were doing major acrobatics. So maybe there's hope for a mellow girl. Is that even possible??

I am excited that my girls will have each other to lean on as they grow up and become wives and mothers themselves. And of course they'll let me tag along. David's reaction was "that's trouble" but secretly I know he's very excited to have another obsessive admirer. Although he did say that he's probably going to be 80 by the time he ever gets to play catch with his son. I hope I'm not having kids at that age.
I'm only giving myself a few more years. :)

(Pre)School's in Session

Well since everything is so up in the air with the sale of our house I put the word out that I would teach preschool as long as we're still living here. It could be 2 months or it could be the entire year....who knows. So I just have a few kids who were willing to work with the unknown factors!

Cyrena has been so excited to have her friends around again. Preschool is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so she should get her fill. We've had a great couple of days so far, it's so fun to have these awesome kids in my home!

She's getting more beautiful and more grown up everyday

Weekend in Pinedale

David's boss invited us, along with another family, to his wife's family ranch in Pinedale, AZ. What a gorgeous place! We felt so lucky to have a weekend to escape from the heat and spend time OUTSIDE. And that's exactly what we did. We got there Friday evening and spent the next couple of days outdoors. It was so fun to get away from daily stresses and just spend quality time together. The ranch is made up of 60 acres. There are several buildings on it, including the ranch house where we stayed. Near the ranch house is a swing set, sandbox, basketball court and lots of grass. There is also a pasture where cows were grazing. And the rest is just beautiful forest. Apparently some stakes in the valley use the ranch for girl's camp in the summer. It is a wonderful place and we truly enjoyed every minute. Saturday it sprinkled off and on but we still spent the majority of the day outside. What a fun way to spend a weekend! Of course we didn't want to come home.

There was a lot of "MOOOOOing" to the cows

See that tall slide? Within minutes of arriving on Friday, Natalie climbed up 3/4 of the way then fell off. She did her 'no breathing' cry for awhile and scared me but then seemed to be just fine. Oh she worries me. This was taken on Saturday, she was feeling pretty cool there at the top.

Rain, Rain, Please Come Back!!

We got to experience an amazingly wonderful thunderstorm last week. I always look forward to Monsoon season here in Arizona but this year has been pretty pitiful. All the humidity without a lot of rain to show for it. But last week we were rewarded by an awesome storm! We all had our faces pressed against the window, checking it all out. Nature at work.

Our window seat was a great spot to sit (or stand) and watch the storm

She had to show her baby the downpour

I could watch her (and the rain) for hours

Swimmer

Cyrena took 3 sessions of swimming lessons this summer. This took up our evenings for 6 weeks but we loved it (and more importantly, so did she). She learned and grew so much and now loves being more independent in the water. We were impressed with her willingness to try so many things, including the diving board!