Sophie's First Girl's Camp

 Our Ward Girl's Camp was July 8th, 9th and 10th this year.  Having a four month old does not lend itself easily to participating fully in such activities; however, Sophie and I did make it up to Mantua on the 9th and were able to bond with the Young Women for a few hours before heading for home.  Sophie definitely did more bonding than I did.  The girls could not get enough of her!  Someone would be holding her and then suddenly there would be a big cluster of young women surrounding her, cooing at her as she grinned back at them with her enormous smile.  You know the one, the one where she's smiling so big she might actually eat you!  Then a girl would come over to me to show me what a cute picture she'd taken of my little darling and how she'd be sure to send me a copy because Sophie is just so darn cute!  She fell asleep in the arms of our Bishop's wife who can't believe her own baby is getting so big!  She's sixteen months.  And that's how the afternoon went.  Sophie was passed around and just smiled and smiled and enjoyed herself.  Our Young Women President made her this adorable bracelet with value colored beads to remember her first girls camp and I was beginning to think that Sophie was born to camp!  And then she let me know how false that was.  At about 9:00 pm started hollering and would not stop!  I was having the hardest time comforting her and everything I tried backfired on me and made her yell louder.  It seemed like FOREVER that she carried on.  It was probably only a half hour, but then she was asleep and it was almost time for testimony meeting.  My favorite part of Girls Camp and the main reason I chose to head up there Tuesday.  It was amazing.  These Young Women are amazing!  I don't think any of us will forget the way we felt when sweet Emily, who is down-syndrome, bore her testimony.  And Sophie slept through it all.  Until I stood up to bear mine.  I was just beginning when she decided she'd rather I didn't, and so I made it as short and sweet as I could.  What a memory!  I still think she was a champ, and so grateful for how sweet everyone was with her.  When she cried so many ward members told me how unlike Sophie that was.  She's such a sweetheart whenever they've seen her that it couldn't possibly be otherwise!

  Clearly these pictures weren't taken in the wilderness but they're just too cute!! 

Staycation

June was a big month for our family.  Sophie was blessed, we had family in from New York and DC, several siblings participated in the Utah Valley Marathon, we sent Nate off on his mission and had baby showers for little Milo and baby Leila (who will be here next month!).  We spent lots of time together running to various places for the little ones enjoyment, and for the adults sanity.  It was a joy to spend time together as siblings since distance makes that nearly impossible most of the year.  Definitely good times, but unfortunately Jon was in Farson for two of the three weeks that my family was here and he wasn't able to participate in much of what we did, so we decided that the week of the 4th Jon would take some time off of work and we would have a vacation here at home.  Just fill our days with fun and local activities.  Tuesday the 2nd we spent the afternoon at the Bountiful Rec Center and had a blast!  The girls got to wear matching bathing suits (I need to take a picture!!) the first of many matching outfits to come...  It took Lyds a bit to warm up to the water, but by the end of the afternoon she couldn't get enough of it.  Especially the slide.  I think I went down that ginormous roller coaster of a slide twenty consecutive times (though it felt like a bajillion) in quick succession before I passed her off to Jon and took over caring for Sophie.  We took turns with the girls and went back and forth between the fun outdoor options that included a ship with a steering wheel that Lyds loved being in control of and the cool indoor options that held the super rad slide and lazy river.  Such a fun time!

Wednesday we traveled all the way to Sandy and spent some time at The Living Planet Aquarium.  Lydia was dressed in her BYU tennis attire and Sophie in her U of U cheerleading outfit.  What cute girls!  Lydia could have spent days and days in the water at the Rec Center, but tired quickly of the Aquarium.  What a neat place!  But probably one to be enjoyed when the girls are a little bit older and can really appreciate it... just a thought.  She enjoyed the fish, and seemed interested in the sea horses, loved sitting on the huge plastic frog, but the 13 foot snake scared her quite a bit more than the creepy, crawly spiders did.  And to say that she did not care for the spiders is an understatement for sure.  She was so ready to be done with the animals by the time we reached the end that she didn't even want to look at the penguins!  Not only did she not want to look at them, she became boneless and we had a difficult time getting her back in the stroller.  That soon changed when she realized that there were stuffed animals in the gift shop.  So many fun fluffy friends!  But she was tired and had already let us know it, so we didn't linger there for long, but returned to the car and headed for home.

 Thursday.  What a day.  6:00 am found us up and moving!  We needed to be at my parents ward in Bountiful by 7:30 and didn't want to be late!  My dad was in charge of the annual 4th of July Breakfast that's held after a flag raising ceremony and music and a speech dedicated to America and those who have or who are currently fighting for our freedoms.  It's a wonderful tradition and a great way to start a fantastically fun and family packed day.  We enjoyed catching up with friends from the ward and family we don't often get to see.  And then we were off to the Kaysville parade!  I imagine that Lyds will appreciate these things more in future years, but despite her disinterest, she was up close and on Jon's shoulders periodically through the parade and saw the princesses as they waved to everyone and she was right up front again to see the horses of course.  But for the most part she didn't want a front row seat, she wanted to eat her snacks on the picnic blanket and sit in the wagon.  By the time the final horses had ridden through and we were packed up and heading back to Mom and Dad Fraziers it was clear that Lydia was exhausted.  She couldn't keep her head upright as Jon pulled her in the wagon and before we'd made it to the school Lyds was bobbing back and forth in that wagon.  Good thing she was belted in!  She must have been spent to fall asleep sitting straight up with nothing to support her, and eventually crashed face first onto our wagon supplies for the final leg of our return trip.  Then she slept for another hour inside before waking up to enjoy a hot dog.  Yum yum.  We only rested at our house for a few minutes before heading off to my parents for hamburgers and some time on the trampoline!  And then we were back in Kaysville for the fireworks.  So much food!!  Great meals and tasty snacks.  I felt like all we were doing was eating eating eating!  No wonder we were stuffed!  So good thing we had some distance to trek before we found Mom and Dad Frazier and our spot on the lawn for the big show.  Watching Lydia was highly entertaining once the fireworks display began.  She HATED them at first!  So loud!!  Jon held her tight and she pressed one ear up against his chest while he covered her other ear.  Then she decided it wasn't so bad and was actually enjoying herself for a few minutes, but that didn't last.  Before the finale she was bored.  Ready to be done.  And wanting to go home.  And Sophie's response to all of this?  She was tired.  And crying.  I honestly think she would have been fine.  Maybe even slept through the whole thing if only she could have fallen asleep to begin with.  Instead she had that look of being so tired she couldn't sleep and on top of that dealing with the noise.  Which certainly didn't help.  We didn't bring head phones for her, but that most likely would have made all the difference in the world if we had.  Was it worth it?  Screaming girls and such a late night... but yes.  It was definitely worth it.  Another memory.  Jon and I have decided to enjoy the moment the best we can no matter what.  Sure beats staying home and doing nothing!  We made it home around 11:00 and I changed and put a sleeping Lydia into her pajamas while she was totally oblivious.  Sophie was completely out as well.  She really was a champ today!  In and out of her car seat.  Again and again and again.  Sleeping anywhere and everywhere.  Constant movement- lots of it in the Bjorn.  All in all it was rather a lot to deal with so it's no wonder both girls slept soundly through the night and our tentative plans to visit the zoo on Friday were cancelled.  We needed to recover from the previous days festivities and just take it easy.  So that's what we did!  It was so great having Jon spend all that time with the girls.  Lydia struggled when he went back to work the following Monday.  Poor babe!  If only she could spend as much time with him as she wanted...

Uncle Nate

Uncle Nate has already been in the MTC for almost a month.  Wow!  And Lydia still talks about him quite a bit.  Right before he left we tried to spend as much time with him as possible, knowing that we wouldn't get to see him for two full years.  Knowing that little Lyds would be FOUR before he comes home and she gets to see him again.  That Sophie would be two, and essentially meeting him for the first time.   Helping Lyds understand why Uncle Nate isn't around because he's on his mission has been a good thing for the family.  Jon and I write to him weekly and plan to continue that until he's home.  We sing "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" and "We'll Bring the World His Truth" at bedtime and talk about what Uncle Nate is doing, and when we're at Grandma's and Grandpa's we remind Lyds that Nate isn't there because he's preparing to share the gospel in the Netherlands.  Just the other day Lydia and I were coloring and she wanted me to draw Dada.  Then Lydia, then Baby, then Mama, then Uncle Nate and finally Dada again.  I love that she still thinks about Uncle Nate, asks about him (in her little way), and I know that she misses him.

Before he left we were able to go to the Zoo with him, the Heiselts, Aunt Abby, and Aunt Jess.  Lydia had a great time.  She loves animals.  She has a different favorite animal daily so the zoo was a wonderful way for her to spend her day.  She was fascinated with the elephants, thought the otters looked like snakes, and ran around like she owned the place by the time we reached the giraffes.  Sophie loved... Aunt Abby.  And being in the Bjorn.  In the past few days Sophie has revealed her cute little laugh consistently.  I've heard her laugh before, but now it happens often, and I love it!  It's amazing how much she sounds like Lyds when she's laughing.  I think Aunt Abby is still sending her messages telepathically, but that's a story for another day.  The Zoo was awesome.  And that evening with Uncle Nate was very special.  It's no wonder we all love him!  He is amazing.  Lydia went and hugged him probably ten times before and after he was set apart and then again when we left to drive home.  I was a mess.  I felt like I didn't get enough time with him and was so sad for Jon because he wasn't able to be with us for anything that day.  Nate looks up to Jon a lot and they have a great relationship.  We decided that driving down to Provo the next day- the day he entered the MTC- would make everyone feel better.  Jon would be feeling up to that, Lydia could give him one more hug, I would get a chance to talk to him a little bit more... So we joined in on a last family meal with Uncle Nate at Cafe Rios in Provo before saying farewell to him until June 2015.  It was perfect.  True, we didn't get to see him off at the curb outside his new home away from home, but we were there until the end and that was the best.  Uncle Nate is going to be one fabulous missionary.  In fact, he already is.  Uncle Nate, we miss you.

Sophie's Blessing

 

Sometimes it feels like everything goes wrong.  Sunday morning we woke up extra early so that we'd have plenty of time to get ready for and even arrive early to church.  I went to get Lydia out of her bed, and found a huge wet spot on her sheet.  More like a puddle.  I figured that her diaper must have malfunctioned, but when I went to change her she was bone dry.  So how did her shorts get wet??  It surely wasn't a drool puddle...  Or was it?  Maybe.  I guess we'll never know.  Anyway we pulled her sheet off and blankets and then threw them in the wash with her mattress saver.  It wasn't a big deal.  We were still able to bathe the girls and get to church with plenty of time to spare.  Then we were watching for family to arrive and everyone was filing in.  We looked back to see the Bountiful crew enter and felt great knowing that everyone had made it.  And then Simon threw up.  Right in the chapel.  Several ward members stepped forward to assist us, in addition to family members so that it didn't take long to clean things up.  A sweet sister in the ward offered to help watch the boys during clean up, and then the meeting began.  When it was time to bless Sophie Grandpa Blackhurst was nowhere to be found.  Everyone else was standing in the circle.  The brothers kept turning around to see if he was coming.  I kept turning around.  Abby stood up to see if she could locate him.  Then the ward members started looking around.  I started feeling anxious.  I gave Jon the go ahead and we later found out that Dad had gone to throw away Simon's puke bag and made it back in time to hear the blessing- if only I'd waited just another minute or two!  Dad could have stood in the circle.  I'm just glad that he was there.  I think Lizzie and Simon needed him more at the moment anyway.

Even though things didn't go exactly as I would have liked, everything came together in the end.  The blessing was beautiful, and Sophie was quiet through it all.  In fact, she was a sweetheart through the whole meeting and slept peacefully in Grandma Frazier's arms.  The food afterward was delicious, and the company wonderful.  I love family!  It was awesome to see everyone helping each other  (both at the chapel and afterward at our house) and we were so grateful for the food that was brought and the time we spent together.  Mostly we just really appreciate that everyone who could make it came for Sophie.  That meant more to me than I can say.  I think there are moments in our lives when we realize what really matters and even though the day got off to a rough start, it didn't stay that way and we were able to spend it with people we love.  I'm so grateful that Jon holds the Priesthood and was able to bless Sophie.  It means so much to me knowing that he can give our girls blessings at times like these in addition to any other time when they might need one.  And that is a huge blessing!

Pony Party

Lydia loves so many things.  Stuffed animals have been a favorite of hers for quite some time now.  Dogs.  Bears.  Bunnies.  She's not very particular.  They're all wonderful.  In fact animals in general are wonderful.  Living or not.  She had a blast teasing her Great Grandmother's little dog just last Sunday.  For those of you who are not aware, Lydia can be quite the tease.  She's learned it from watching her dad.  I loved watching her giggle as she ran away from Misty (Great Grandma's dog) before Misty could take a drink of Lydia's water.

 She also loves to make animal sounds.  And she's very good at it.  You might just think you're sitting next to a pig.  Or perhaps a horse.  Her go to is a dog, and she can pant like the best of them.

Anyway, knowing all of this made deciding to throw her a pony party quite easy.  Oh yes.  I'd better mention something else.  Not just a pony party.  A pink pony party.  The girl knows her colors.  She eats out of her orange bowl unless it's not available.  Always chooses a green bubble bath (if we decide to throw in some food coloring).  And always always wants to wear pink if given the choice.  She loves her shoes with the pink bows.  So, a pink pony party it was.  Can I just say that the Internet is a wonderful thing?  I found this super fantastic site with step-by-step easy to follow instructions for her cake and I'd like to thank Pinterest for leading me to our party favors.  Little pony necklaces.

Everything came together in the end, despite the hiccough we had after the girls were loaded in the car and it wouldn't start.  We just wanted to get some balloons.  And ice cream.  I called Jon and he left work to rescue us.  Unfortunately it wasn't a quick fix- a dead battery- but thanks to Jon we moved Lydia's car seat to the Yaris and were good to go!

Family came and supported her- thank you so much for coming!!  And that's when things really got started.  My favorite moment of the evening, well one of the many anyway, was watching her open her gifts.  She was so girly about it!  Tearing tiny bits of paper off oh so very slowly.  But even better than that was watching her reaction after she'd opened whatever it was.  She wanted to open each book after it was unwrapped.  There was no tearing through her presents just to get them all opened.  And she was so excited about everything!  Then when we sang to her she got so shy!  She covered her face and hid.  We should have videoed that!  Watching her blow out her candles was entertaining too.  She's a pro at blowing on hot food to cool it, but she needed a bit more umph! to get those candles out.  And she found it eventually.  Then when she got the chance (I wanted a picture of her with the horse cake) she slid a finger across one ear to taste the frosting.  She had been eying it ever since she woke up from her  nap so that shouldn't have been a surprise.




Sophie was a sweetheart through it all.  She didn't love the singing and clapping, but she didn't make too much of a fuss. She definitely let Lydia have the spotlight!  Happy birthday Lydia!

Facial features

I just had to mention the first observations our little ones received at birth in the hospital.  Since we haven't yet included posts about either girls' debut into the world, this will have to do for now.

"Oh my goodness!  Check out those cheeks!" This was one of Lydia's nurses giggled exclamation before she handed little Lydia over to me.  She still has fabulous cheeks.

"Wow! Her eyebrows are amazing! Lucky girl." Several people have noted Sophie's lovely eyebrows, but the first person to comment on them said so in the hospital on day two of her little life.  Also one of her nurses.

Lydia's First Halloween

   

        Undoubtedly Lydia will not remember this day, but I love that her little cheeks pop with that hood- so kissable! I think her black and red tights are my favorite. She and I attended the ward trunk or treat and watched all the neighbor kids parading around in their costumes. She seemed to really get a kick out of watching the kids and seeing them all dressed up. Later on Dad joined us in visiting family and friends. In and out of the car. Again. And again. And again. What a good sport! We just had to show little Ya-Ya off!  

                                

          One of my new favorite traditions (and I may need a little help in ensuring that this truly becomes a tradition for us- hint hint ;))   is making caramel apples this time of year (this time meaning Halloween). A special thanks to Grandma Frazier who had everything prepared and ready to go before we arrived. I loved watching the kids everyone plunge their apples deep into the caramel to gather as much of that yummy goodness as they possibly could. The result? Pure deliciousness. There were no prizes awarded for these apples, but had there been, Jon (rather The Golden Boy) would surely have gotten one. Doesn't that apple look perfect? I could totally see it featured in a magazine. Totally. Doesn't it make your mouth water?