Busy Busy Bees!

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. I told you I get bad at this kind of task!

A lot has gone on this last week and a half. On Friday the 18th, Matthew and I went to the temple to support our friends Spencer and Jessica. It was great, and if you've yet to have had a chance to go, you should go someday! That was fun and great, but since we had a babysitter already arranged, we decided to abuse them and go out after that early evening session. We went to dinner with a group of friends; Bryant and Andie Cherry, and Mike and Erica Glover. I think it's the first time we've gone out with an all married group! It was fun to catch up and be silly! Then we went and saw the Dark Knight! Oh man, I've said it once, I'll say it again; Christian Bale and Heath Ledger in the same movie? SWEET! It was awesome and Heath Ledger was spectacular as the Joker! It was a really long movie though, every time you thought it was over, it kept going! We needless to say, we were out until 2:30/3:00! Yikes! We haven't done that in years! It was fun though!

We still have not found a place to live and are really starting to feel the stress. It's just so hard to pick the right place. We have so many more factors now; you know, with me and Leslie at home during the day and wanting to stay in a semi-safe community, there's just not very many options. We're still hoping that a miracle will happen and we can stay in the ward. I don't know, maybe Heavenly Father has different plans for us.

My sister, Amber, is turning 20 on Thursday, and I'm very excited for her! She's finally not a teenager anymore! I'm not sure if we're doing anything, but I'm happy for her nonetheless!

Leslie continues to make us all laugh with her happy little self. She's almost always dancing, singing or talking. And it gets 10x worse when there are other kids around! Our niece and nephews were here last Wednesday and she had a hay-day! She ran back and forth, back and forth; screaming, smiling, giggling and laughing. It was nonstop pandemonium! She loves to talk to my parents dog. Her latest endeavor is the word "no". I know, it's a little early, but it's very cute. Mostly she yells it at Matthew when he's tickling her. She has her own version of "Daddy" for Matthew: "Dah-doh". Of course, I think this is the cutest thing ever, Matthew just tries to get her to say "Dah-dee, Dah-dee, DEE DEE" It never works. But when they get going in a tickle and giggle fest, she yells "Dah-doh, doh! Which means "Daddy, No". It makes me smile every time she speaks now, just hoping for the next new word she'll discover. My other favorite for now? She sings along with the Diego theme song. She'll sing his name at the right spot in the song and she always tries to make the animal sound when slides down the zip line! I crave this kind of goofiness on a regular basis, and am SO glad she's finally starting to use her words to interact with everything around her!

That's all for now, more Leslie anecdotes to come soon!

Summer Showers

Today I went to my friend, (soon-to-be WIFE of friend Spencer Drew) Jessica Whaley's, Bridal Shower. I was a little apprehensive at first since the only person I knew that was going was my friend Andie, who I also know through her husband. But despite that fat that all of her Highland High friends were there and tons of family, I had a great time.

I thought it was really funny that two different ladies from my home ward were there. Best part of that? They're related sorta and didn't even know it! One is the wife of the bride's dad's brother; and the other is the daughter of the bride's mother's sister. Did you get that? We all got a kick out of it anyway!

The best part was that Andie Cherry, Erica Glover, and myself all got a chance to get to know each other a little better and catch up. It was a regular old girlie chat-fest. I got to meet the wife of a friend from high school and visit with the groom, Spencer.

Even better than that? I get to go to the temple on Friday when Jess gets her endowment. Andie and Erica are going too and I am SO excited to have a group of girlfriends that are able to go to the temple! Jess, Andie and I decided we're going to have a regular girl's temple night. I get all girlie and excited about going to the temple when a friend gets their endowments. It's such a blessing to have been one of the first to have gone through the temple. I love sharing that moment with them!

Here's to Temple's, friends, and time and all eternity!

Baby Feet are Fun!

Today Leslie got her first "big scratch". She was trying to wear one of Matthew's flip flops (one of her latest obsessions) and it slipped out from under her. She fell face first onto the corner of a box of books and bam! scratched her face. It broke the skin a little and definitely broke the capillaries, because she's got a pretty good looking bruise! I picked her up, hugged on her, and gave her her Binky. She cried for all of two or three minutes and was done. That's my little trooper. What can you do, right? You can't protect them every second of the day!

On a lighter note, and on her obsession with shoes, I caught Leslie with both of her feet in one of her Daddy's church shoes today! She was trying to stand, but her feet were too close together, so she had to take one out! Her little feet aren't strong enough to carry the shoe while wearing it, so she had to take it off to carry it back to the basket! Ah, life's little moments are what make it great!

Also, I think one of her feet is crooked. Is that something I should worry about? Should I be sure to ask the doc about it next month at her well-baby? She also grips the floor with every step she takes, it's really fun to watch!

A Place to Live

Matthew and I went apartment hunting today. We officially cannot afford to buy a house, and we'ce come to accept that we have to downgrade back to an apartment. It's kind of depressing, especially because we have to leave our ward. I think that's the worst part for me. Since joining the church, this is the longest I've been in one place. And I'm finally comfortable and completely in love with the people and community here. It makes me really sad to think that Leslie isn't going to get to be in nursery with all of those really cute kiddos. And having to face new calling and all new RS sister again. I hate having to start over.

So unless you friends and ladies out there can help us figure something great out, I'm afraid we're going to have to move away. Sad, sad day for us.

P.S. I wish there was a way for me to make some extra money so we could stay here in the ward. But alas, not one person has been able to suggest something legitimate to help out. Sad day, again.

SaladMasters

So we went to a presentaton for Saladmasters tonight. There are some pretty interesting things to learn about health, nutrition and cooking from this class-type setting! Don't be surprised if I invite you to a class of my own, you'll be amazed at the things you never knew!

Leslie was goofy as ever; she played most of the time with Bryant Cherry. Maybe she likes him so much because he and Matthew are so similar in shape and size. It makes me smile that she'll sit in the lap of another guy and not even think twice about it! She also had her first bite of fish sticks. She seemed to really like it, but it's not something I'll be cooking at home. YUCK!

Overall, it was a pretty good day. I was going to have yard sale tomorrow morning, but with the unpredictable weather this week, I'm going to hold off until next weekend. So come if you dare! Instead we're going to start apartment/townhouse/condo hunting early. I hope it all goes well, we really need a place to live - and soon; August is fast approaching!

Wish us luck!

Global Chess

So yesterday, Matthew's Dad, Rich came over for dinner. He brought Papa John's, mmm yummy! He wanted to visit Leslie and play this new game he has called Global Chess. First off, I can't even play regular chess, let alone some fancy schmancy version of chess. Matthew and Tamra seemed to enjoy the concept though. Basically, it's chess on two round boards that rotate against each other. Leslie just wanted to watch them play and steal the game box and carry it around.

I watched So You Thin You CanDance during all of this and generally tried to avoid the mass competition going on behind me. I missed part of the show because Leslie and I were dancing to the music instead of watching. She likes to spin and throw her arms from side to side. It's pretty funny. Her latest move discovery? She puts her head on the floor, her butt in the air, and sways from side to side! I love it! She's going to be our little dancer I think. She picked all of her dance moves on her own - ok, maybe a little from the "we did it" dance on Dora. But she's great none the less!

New to This

So I've officially decided to start an actual blog. I'm not quite sure how dedicated I can be, but I will try. Mostly it will probably be me ranting about something, but hopefully I can keep everyone updated on our little family and upcoming events! Wish me luck!