The budding musician...

Nathan wrote a song recently. He plays it on the piano and sings it at the top of his lungs. It goes like this:

"Bethie-bae; Bethie-bae. I love you with all my heart today!"

He sang it for Beth. She loves it. Then they put their arms around each other and walked down the hall singing, "I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah," together. (You know, it's the Beatles!)

Awwww.

B-E-T-H

Beth loves her name. She loves to spell it. She writes it on everything. Today she wrote "Beth" on her shirt. Hmmm. She marches around the house chanting, "B-E-T-H..B-E-T-H."

She got her very own copy of the Book of Mormon the other day. She immediately looked at it and said, "This says my name! B-E-T-H."

Look closely.

B (in "Book") E, T, H (in "The"). Not only can she recognize her name, she can unscramble it!

Eight years of Sarah...

Today is Sarah's birthday. She had a wonderful day. Her grandma is visiting from Hawaii. Grandma has a way of making Sarah feel special. Chris escaped from work for an hour so we could have a party and Grandpa and Grandma Rawlins were sure to shower Sarah with love. Even though he didn't feel well, Ammon went out of his way to make a banner and party hats and do anything he could to make Sarah's day special. Nathan and Beth have been keeping Sarah entertained all day. Sarah has a way of demanding special treatment. She's a sweet girl and was very excited to receive gifts of things she could make and do. Would you like to see how she has grown over the years?

2002: She's a pretty little newborn. (At 9 lbs 8 oz, she was anything but little.)

Age 1 and loving her cake.

Age 2: I love that her attitude comes out in her face.

Age 3: with Ammon

I can't believe this is the best picture I have of her 4th birthday.

Future reference: 4-years-old is too young for a friend party.

Flamingos are still Sarah's favorite animal.

Her Cinderella costume is still hanging around--a little worse for wear.

I love her.

What? Another flamingo? No wonder she didn't want a flamingo today.

Sarah makes our lives colorful.

We are blessed to have her in our family.

Words can be confusing

We've been focusing on language skills today.

Chris' mom is visiting. She has highlights in her hair. Nathan said, "Grandma, why do you have brown and red parts in your hair?" She said, "Because they put bleach in it and that's what color it turned." Ammon said, "Weren't you afraid they'd suck your blood?" Um...

"Not leach, Ammon. Bleach." Oh.

Sarah saw the Tasmanian Devil on a truck's "mud slaps." (Also called mud flaps.)

We passed a hospital and Chris' mom asked if we have Kaiser in Utah. (A common medical insurance in California and Hawaii.) Sarah piped up and said, "No. Those are only in Yellowstone."

"Not geyser, Sarah. Kaiser." Oh.

While eating at a Chinese restaurant, Nathan asked if he could eat with pork chops. He didn't ask if he could eat pork chops; he asked if he could eat with pork chops. I don't know what they call them in China, but here in America, we usually call them chopsticks.

We were playing Go Fish with some really cool cards featuring real fish found around Hawaii. Nathan said, "Dad, do you have any piney-porn fish?"

"Not piney-porn, Nathan. Porcupine." Oh.

Bethie kept asking if she could have more Star Wars candy. It's delicious. It's also called Starburst.

Well, that's all.

Sometimes we do stuff

I would like to point out that every now and then we leave the house. For example, last summer, my sister and I took our kids to This is the Place Heritage Park.

Brigham Young led the Mormon pioneers to Utah in 1847. As he arrived, he looked down in the valley and said, "This is the right place." So, they settled here. There is a monument marking the place where Brigham Young said those famous words. And there is now a state park in the area. There are homes, stores, and other buildings from the original settlers. They have many games and activities that were common during that era. Our children had a blast.

Lots of kids. :-)

Picnic lunch in the bowry.

Washing clothes...chores are always more fun somewhere else.

Hanging them out to dry.

Playing some old fashioned games.

We couldn't get the stilts to work for us.

Ironing....

Beating the rug.

A very beautiful flower garden.

Horseback riding

 My niece--she has the cutest smile and happiest little personality.

 Beth didn't like the idea of horses, but there were other animals.

They hid from a sudden downpour inside a tipi.

Ammon's rain-style hairdo.

Nathan has a cute face.

Shave and a haircut..two bits.

 Playing checkers while waiting in the barber shop.

Who says girls can't shave? It's 2010! We can do whatever we want!

Panning for gold.

Ah...those are real tipis. Inside, Shoshone Indians taught us a bit about their culture and history.

Riding a little train.

The view from the train. I love Salt Lake Valley.

Navajo hogans. We learned about Navajo customs and history inside.

Just a-walkin' down the street.

A statue of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith.

Fun and learning all at once. It's a great little park.