Stark Stories

Some snow and a photo shoot....

2012-01-23T23:39:00.011-06:00

The past weekend brought some bonafide snow to our neck of the woods. One daughter couldn't get enough.

After 45 minutes of play, she came in still looking like this.

Other members of our family were less enthused.

They came inside after 5 minutes with some awesome hat hair, seeking solace in a pacifier and blanket.
Admittedly my children struggle with looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. It's a skill we have yet to master at the Stark household. However, we've practiced lately and I've tried to do some mini photo shoots.

Most of them start like this....

and they end like this....

Again, they start like this....

and transition to this....

and end like this....

I'm so happy they have each other.

Our Deli bear has been obsessed with calling people as of late. Here is a shot of one of her recent "conference calls" I think this one was to Lauren :) Thank-you to all of the sweet people who have "talked" to her on the phone lately!

Merry Christmas!!!

2012-01-23T21:36:00.007-06:00

We may be a tad late with the Christmas post - it's because we partied that hard :) We visited family in Minnesota. Josh unfortunately was only able to party for a little over a week. The kids and I stretched the holiday into a fun 3 week play time/celebration. Needless to say we've had a rough week adjusting back to reality!!! We were able to do a lot of our favorite Minnesota things, but the best part was spending time with our favorite Minnesota people. We love them all and wish we lived next door to them all. Someday we plan on it!

During our trip we bonfired, went sleigh riding, went to the movies, visited the arboretum, zoo, aquarium, sky zone, children's museum, but more importantly played games with, spent time with and loved our family!

Cousin bath. One word - P-A-R-T-Y!!!

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Wilson for being great hosts. We love you so much!

A little homage to our favorite Bess. We wish we saw this face/aunt much, much more often :(

Our favorite Lauren and our favorite Payton - Everett's tummy time was so effective in MN because he enjoyed laying next to, and watching this cute cousin of his.
There were 8 kids the age of 4 and under, living under the same roof for a couple of days. It was so fun, but to be honest probably 90% of the time at least one child was crying. We did some crazy things all in the name of fun, but honestly, it was so fun!

Ella, sharing a moment with Great-Grandpa Stark. It doesn't get much cuter than this!

Visiting our favorite Grandparents in Mora! We love when we get to spend time with them. It is so easy to feel their love, and we enjoy their company so much.

The annual sleigh ride and soup dinner became a hay ride, but it was still a great time!

Keeping warm in the warming shed. Keeping cute just because.

We loved getting to see and spend time with Grandma Karen. The girls eat up the attention they get from her and they love playing with her!

Cutest little buddy - cutest Great-Grandma Wilson!

One day we went to the Children's museum with some friends. They had face paint for the kids to apply themselves. Adele loved the idea and took full artistic liberties on her face. I'm not sure what maneuver she's working with her tongue/pacifier, but you get a great picture of her artwork here.

Ella went with the more traditional butterfly, rainbow combo on her cheeks.

We hope to make it back to the homeland soon. Until then we'll be missing all of these cute people!

Hoodee Who.....look who's two!!!

2011-12-12T21:35:00.009-06:00

Our Deli Bear turned 2 today!!! She had a fabulous morning, and spent most of it in her Cozy Coupe!

Then Ella helped/opened Adele's gifts for her. Grandma sent her some fun Dora stuff! She felt pretty hooked up!

The weather wasn't too bad today and we made it to the park. The girls were so happy to get out of the house and be outside. Ella still asks daily to go to the park. We had a good time together.

Ella was a great older sister today.

Not to forget the most handsome Stark around these parts....

Happy Birthday Deli....we love you!
The video below is funny, I hope it gives you a chuckle :)

Tis the Season!

2011-12-06T13:42:00.003-06:00

The Setting: Our house - yesterday - Adele and Everett napping - Ella contently in front of Caillou - Mom in the shower. **** (Sidenote, for the past 3 months there have been 3 toys cut out from a toy catalog sitting neatly on Ella's nightstand. She reminds us almost daily that these are what she wants from Santa: a light wand, moon dough popcorn machine, inkoos stamp bear.)

Ella bursts into the bathroom with a mix of excitement/disbelief/naivety, "Mom, guess what!"

Me, poking my head around the shower curtain, "what Ella?"

"I FOUND THE POPCORN MACHINE! THAT WAS THE BEST HIDING SPOT EVER!"

I paused for a second and then bust up laughing. Hard. Evidently it wasn't the best hiding spot ever, she's three, and it's December 6th, and she found the stash!

I didn't know what to say, I lamely tried to say something about being good, or that it was possibly for Adele. She didn't buy any of it. And she was really happy!

DISNEY 2011 - It was Magical.....and all our Dreams Came True!

2011-11-26T13:25:00.006-06:00

We just returned from the "Wilson Invasion....The Next Generation!"
We made memories, we witnessed the magic, and all our dreams came true :)

What more can you ask for - Daisy Duck, check! Cousins, check! A day at Magic Kingdom, check!

Everett experienced his fair share of rides as well. He was not disappointed with what Disney had to offer.

Two of my favorite people ever....fresh off of Splash Mountain.....a whoo hoo....best ride EVER!!! Okay, I may have overused that saying a little, but it did help get the excitement going :)

We're so blessed to have our families be our best friends! We were grateful to have such a fun time together!

Gorgeous Girls!

Can you see Ella's smile? It says love, for one of her best friends and cousins.

We were also grateful this trip for ibuprofen, delsym, hot tubs, nice weather, time away from the routine and grindstone, but mostly being able to spend time with family!

Grandma Karen visits the Windy City...

2011-11-14T21:03:00.002-06:00

Grandma Karen came to town this past weekend. We had a great time with her and the girls enjoyed the extra attention! They made sure Grandma Karen played plenty of games with them and they were sad to see her go. Come back again soon Grandma Karen, we miss you!

The Windy City

2011-11-09T22:39:00.004-06:00

This past weekend our Bess came to town! (My sister Elizabeth). We miss her immensely and mourn that our Provo days with her are over. We were happy to have her with us for the weekend. We also welcome all other friends from Provo to come visit soon....Please :)

We took the day to enjoy the Navy Pier and each other.

Not our best family shot - but we'll take it!

Some merry-go-riders...

As you can see from Ella's hair they're not kidding when they call it "The Windy City."

The siblings, plus my other half Everett :)

We did some fun activities for the weekend, but do you know what was my highlight of the weekend? Laughing - hard!!! I haven't laughed so much in a long time. Thanks for being funny, making me laugh, and for coming Bess! We all loved having you so much. We miss you and hope you'll return soon.

Pumpkin Carving...

2011-11-07T22:18:00.003-06:00

No spectacular stories, just a few photos from our pumpkin carving night last week. Everyone participated, and everyone enjoyed :)

They were focused...

Everett participated and blew bubbles; however, my favorite part of this picture are the cute, chubby, Deli hands that are trying to position Everett's head to look at the camera.....love!

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-22T22:42:00.002-05:00

Our girls are both going through a stage of not looking, smiling or staying still for the camera....you take what you can get.

Deli....the ladybug.

Everett was asleep in the car, therefore Joseph will take his spot on our blog :)....he was the cutest lion I have EVER seen!

This was the best shot of Ella in her costume....oh well!

Lions and Tigers and Bears....oh my!

The anti-Halloween family. Well, Josh did wear a hockey jersey and brought a hockey stick...I guess I was the party pooper :)

While I'm not even sure of this child's name - he won my vote for best costume. Guess that movie!!!

Everett Ervin Stark

2011-10-12T16:18:00.002-05:00

Is it just me or is he one of the most handsome little boys - Ever!
He melts my heart....
Here is wearing Josh's baptismal outfit.

This picture is a great depiction of the love Ella has for one of her best friends :)

We love the weekends, because we get times like these!

A fun fall weekend!

2011-10-12T16:02:00.003-05:00

My parents came to town this past weekend and we took advantage of the extra help and we ventured out to explore our new surroundings. Stop #1 the pumpkin patch. It was quite the place with plenty of attractions for the kids. Above you can see the haunted train ride :)

Below the girls are farm helpers?

Grandma with her faithful admirers :)

After seeing Lucy ride the school bus last week Ella was all about getting her picture taken "riding" this school bus!

Do you see that? It's pure elation! She would have gone down the inflatable slide all day if I had let her.

We took a very dusty, hot, tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch. The concept may be a little more exciting than actually executing this part of the adventure. Carrying pumpkins back to the tractor, plus herding the brood of young kids was not the easiest!

Ella would have taken many if we had let her.

This is not the best picture, but is definitely one of my daughters favorite activities, hands down. Playing in grandma's make-up. Something they don't get with mom.

The next day we ventured out to the Brookfield Zoo. We had a great time and saw many animals. Unfortunately the only pictures that turned out were with the Canadian Geese, oh well!

A beautiful day for a beautiful couple!

2011-10-11T14:20:00.003-05:00

Two weekends ago we made our way to MN for Jesse and Kjerstin's wedding (Josh's brother). It was a gorgeous fall day for an outside wedding. We are so happy for them and had a great time seeing everyone!

Ella was a flower girl for their wedding. She could have done better, she could have done worse :) We're grateful there were no tears during the wedding!

The next day we made our way out to the Apple Orchards. I just love the picking fruit scene that MN has to offer. Also, something about being in MN is just healing for the soul....one good reason is we get to spend time with the cute apple picker shown below :)

The crew

Some ate...

Some picked....

And some played hide and seek?

We've since made apple crisp, apple sauce, and eaten our fair share of apples. Overall, we had a great weekend with our family and friends!

Come back soon!!!

2011-09-03T23:42:00.003-05:00

Another summer has come and gone, and we are again missing our Simone!!! We had such a fun summer and are always bummed when she leaves. We were able to pack in a lot of swimming, swimming lessons, craft days, farmers markets and a lot of reading. She also helped us with our move across the country and was able to see and help set up our new abode. She also became very prolific with Grandma's I-Pad - hopefully her skills at "Cut the rope" will come in handy in the 6th grade ;)

She's getting so old! We are so excited for her to start middle school this year, and look forward to seeing her again soon!

We also had another visitor/angel with us for the last 3 weeks of our summer! My mom came and helped us to have a baby, pack up a house, drive my children and me across the country, and set up our new house! We were more than sad to see her leave, but we knew that her body needed to go home to rest. The pace she was going would have killed an Olympic athlete eventually! Mother, your capabilities and your love amaze us. We are so lucky and blessed to have you as a mother, grandmother and best friend. Thank-you for everything, we miss our "ga-ga" and our "ma-ma" as Ella and Adele call her respectively.

I hope to be able to serve and love my children as you have with your children - you are a great example!

Have you heard???

2011-09-03T23:32:00.003-05:00

Have you heard that it's almost impossible to take as many photos of the 2nd and 3rd child as it was the first? Well, it is. Then tack on a move and trying to figure out a new camera, and well, it's lucky we have any documentation of the cutest boy in our family!!! Here are a few shots of our Mister. We love him!!!

The above photo is Josh trying to instill good habits. (Sleep long and often!)

Below is our cute guy taking his first bath.

The picture below is how he spends the majority of his days! It's remarkable how he can get any shut eye with older sisters that are constantly kissing him, touching him, pulling on his body parts as they identify them (courtesy of Adele) and pulling out his pacifier just because; however, he does - good job Everett!

Hopefully more photos to come soon!

Some people call us crazy - We call him Everett!!!

2011-08-11T16:31:00.003-05:00

He is here!!! Everett Ervin Stark joined us on 8-8-11 at 6:12 PM, weighing in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. He also has long feet, like his dad and sisters....Josh already wants to know if they make hockey skates this little?

He came into this world crying for the first 45 minutes of life! Josh and I laughed and wondered if it was ever going to stop. Fortunately - it did!

All cleaned up.

First visitors! Grandma has been a miracle worker around here running circles to keep our house going and in order. Thank-you so much mom!!! We love you!

We will let you guess who could hold Everett all day long if we let her.....literally! Simone has been a great big sister and helper!

P.S. There are still some other cute faces around these parts. Some are handling the arrival of our new bundle better than others. Ella has been very emotional and slightly oppositional. Adele has well.....been overly obsessed with the baby. To say that her motherly instincts have kicked in would be an understatement. If we let her, she would kiss him, hold him, and put his blanket over him all day long. She has had a couple of melt-downs when she hasn't been able to hold him, but overall has been handling it very well.

We love them all so much and are so grateful for our cute kids! We are grateful for the help of friends and family during our crazy, transitions in life right now. I will post more pictures soon, with a less goopy, more alive looking baby - until then there's only one thing left to say. "Welcome Home Everett, Welcome Home!"

Campfiring it at Snow Fork...

2011-07-25T09:53:00.004-05:00

On Friday we headed up the canyon to bonfire, cook some dinner, make s'mores, celebrate Megan's birthday, and most importantly tell spooky stories. (Ella had informed us all day that after the s'mores we needed to tell spooky stories around the campfire).
We are also happy to be counting Simone in our numbers this past month, and also very excited that Bess recently rejoined us from her adventures in Uganda.
By far the cutest s'more cooker I've seen. Probably the most dangerous as well. She got those babies on fire and whipped them around with cat like reflexes. She was not happy when we put a stop to that!

These girls enjoyed a lot of their own "hiking" back and forth.

Simone telling us her part of the spooky story.

Birthday girl - Evi loving life, just not pictures - Seaners with a cheeser smile!

I'm trying to take more pictures, but am failing :) We've had a great summer keeping busy with a lot of swimming and different adventures!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-12T11:35:00.003-05:00

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Minnesota. We drove cross country to visit with family, friends, pick up Simone, and just take a fun vacation. Unfortunately my camera made it out one night. Isn't that sad? One night! We were there for over a week! You'll have to trust me that we had a lot of fun with cousins, family, swimming, the zoo, visiting Uncle Jesse at the fire station and visiting with friends. These two pictures and the video are from the night of the 4th. It was a hot and humid night, but we had a good time visiting with Great Grandma and Grandpa Stark in Mora. After dinner the girls did some sparklers. They both became proficient at getting them lit, waving them twice, and then walking the ten feet to put them out in a bucket of water...oh well!

Grandpa Stark also has a very cute yellow car that they both loved! I'm glad they finally enjoyed it, Ella was scared last time, but they took turns and drove it for a long time.

Until next time!

A weekend in heaven....

2011-06-19T22:46:00.002-05:00

We made a weekend jaunt to heaven this past weekend - aka - the Raddon Family cabin in Swan Valley, Idaho. The weekend went too fast, but we had a great time. Here are some of the things we enjoyed.

Good food.

Fun activities.

Cute people. (With a goose egg on her forehead from a wipe out!)

Beautiful hiking trails.

Great company.

Delicious S'mores.

Fun in the hot tub.

Thank-you for the great time Rebecca! We love you and were so happy to spend quality time with you!

2011-06-14T17:29:00.002-05:00

We've had a rough couple of nights between the two girls not wanting to go to bed. Ella keeps turning her light on and falling asleep reading books. ( I guess there could be worse :) And Dellers is just flat out yelling and crying when she's not ready to go to sleep. That's a real treat!

Besides crazy night times we had some fun visitors this past weekend. My brother Jonathan and his family were in town for a family reunion. We were lucky enough to get to spend time with them Saturday and Sunday.

Deli warmed right up and loved snuggling Uncle "Jo-Jos"

Amanda with her cute children.

Utah Valley Marathon!!!

2011-06-11T14:37:00.002-05:00

I'm a proud wife - we now have a marathoner in the family! He felt good and looked even better. We cheered him on at mile 23 and at the end! The girls wouldn't high five him, and gave him blank stares during the race, but at the end they couldn't get enough. They love their dad!

We also cheered on my brother Jonathan and his sister in law Emily. Everyone looked happy and everyone finished....check and check!

Moms...

2011-06-11T01:56:00.003-05:00

I have memories of wearing my mother out when we were young. Most often my dad would make some comment like, "you kids are going to make your mom have to go to the hospital." It makes us laugh now, but as a kid it scared us enough to behave, at least for a minute.

Yesterday my girls were "having a morning" to put it nicely. They were both crying/whining for no apparent reason. Josh was getting ready for the day and was trying to get out the door. As the whining and crying increased I noticed Josh start to zip around our apartment a little quicker. I laughed and asked him if he was trying to get out faster? He wouldn't admit to it, but I didn't blame him. He then pulled a dad. He was halfway out the door, with the door already closing behind him as he said to the girls, "be nice to your mom today. She's the only one you got!"

It made me laugh and think of my childhood. However it is true, and they better watch out, or else I may have to go to the hospital! ;)

A little of everything...

2011-06-08T16:29:00.004-05:00

We had a birthday girl last month, and we had a fun time celebrating her. We had a fun birthday party at the park, and it really felt like a kick-off to summer. It was such a nice night to be out with friends having fun. Happy Birthday Ella babes!!!

This shows Ella and Dad doing one of their favorite activities together....watching movies! Hopefully Josh gets lucky and at least one of his girls will like movies as much as he does...

Grandma Karen sent Ella some daffodils for her birthday. She has had a great time watering them and watching them grow!

Here are Ella and Hailey. Hailey is one of Ella's first "best friends". They have loved doing classes, playing and being silly together for the last couple of years. We will be so sad to not be living close to them soon. They are off to the Big Apple for a job and new adventures. Hopefully we can visit them sometime. Hailey also happens to be a 3 year old genius if I've ever met one, so we'll be trying to get her to be Ella's roommate in 15 years or so. :)

A little love for my other cute thing....

This past weekend my parents came to town. We had a great time celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and a baby shower. We had a great time and loved having them here. These 3 girls competed for my mom's attention most of the time. Who can blame them? I love her too!

Here's an Ella shot before heading off to her first day of pre-school. (We are starting her in a summer pre-school two days a week). As the picture may show she was a tad bit nervous. We had barely turned down the street of her school and she started to cry! However, we just ripped the band-aid off and left her. We stood outside the door and heard her scream/cry for 2 minutes, and then it was silence. Golden silence. We came to get her two and a half hours later and....it was a miracle! She loved it, and she's okay going back.....a whoo hoo! Good Job Ella girl

That's about it. We've been busy working and playing, playing and working. Josh is trying to finish up some independent study classes this Spring and we are excited to be done with that. We also are going to make our way back to the homeland at the end of the month - very excited about that!

Captain Literal....

2011-05-19T00:44:00.003-05:00

This video has nothing to do with this post. I don't have any recent pictures of Ella so I thought I would attach it. This was taken 6 months ago right before or after Thanksgiving. It's crazy how quickly they grow up!

Now, on to the real reason for the post:

Ella is at a stage where she is picking up on figures of speech that maybe don't make as much sense as one would like. She takes them literally, asks questions, and a long description of what was really meant ensues. A couple of examples:

2 days ago: We went for a long walk, ended up at the park and played 'til our hearts content. Unfortunately I hadn't planned being gone so long and had not taken Ella to the bathroom before we left. After much fun she told me she had to "go". We didn't make it.

She then looks to me and asks, "mom, are you mad?"
Me: "oh no Ella! Accidents happen, it's not a big deal. We'll just go home and throw you in the bath."
Ella: "Well mom, don't throw me. Maybe just put me in gently."
Me: "Oh, you're right. Good idea Ella."

Yesterday: We were in the car and had listened to the ABC song by the Jackson 5. There's a lyric that says, "shake it, shake it, baby!"

After the song Ella asks: "Mom, was the baby in some one's belly or were they holding it?"
Me: "What? What baby Ella? I don't know what you're talking about?"
Ella: "In the song mom. Was the baby they were shaking in some one's belly or were they holding it and shaking it?"

Oh brother.....what a gruesome thought!

Today: She was putzing and not getting into her bed. I told her, "Ella, come on. It's time to hop into bed."

Without hesitation she ran over, crouched and gave her best hop, into her bed.

I love her, love her, love her!

My Deli.....

2011-05-17T15:05:00.002-05:00

Have I ever told you how much I love her? Truly, the love is deeper, purer and more precious than one can put into words.

Did I also tell you that her tantrum at Ikea today made all of the other parents proud of their own children? Possibly very, very happy and content that they were holding cute, quiet, cuddling babies!!!

All I could think was, "I wish I had a video camera so that I could show her in 15 years what she's putting me through!"

We all made it out alive, I even gave her a kiss as I strapped her into her car seat- but boy, I need a nap!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ella!

2011-05-02T15:13:00.005-05:00

I love my cute Ella so much! We tried to make today special, we went to Art class, went swimming, had bagels for breakfast, pizza for dinner, opened presents, and played with presents. She seemed happy and and felt very loved, thank-you for all the birthday wishes that she got!

We are currently working on looking at the camera and smiling. Both very difficult concepts-I know! Until then, we have a lot of photos like the following....

We tried to make our Deli Bear feel loved too....she likes pizza....she was happy....

Another quick note: By the end of the day Ella was loving all of the attention, but the first half of the day she seemed shy/embarrassed about it being her birthday and getting so much attention. She has understood for a long time that she was going to turn 3 on May 2nd and that she'd get presents, and the theory sounded great to her. However, she had many birthday well wishers singing her songs and for the first few she would run away from the phone every time. After Jonathan, Amanda and Savannah called to sing to her she told me:

"Mom, I like my presents, I just don't like that it's my birthday."

Funny, funny girl. Also, this morning while opening all of her presents she kept hugging Josh and I and telling us thank-you and how much she liked her presents; however, after the opening was done she told me:

"Mom, my presents aren't my favorite, but I do really like them."

I laughed and thought....what were we missing? In her mind what was the perfect present that we just didn't pull through on- maybe a puppy?

We love you so much Ella Bear and can't believe how fast 3 years have gone....we look forward to many more!

Happy Easter!!!

2011-04-24T02:07:00.004-05:00

Two of my favorite Easter Bunnies above.

Grandma and Adele having the time of their lives on the tractor ride!

Simone made us proud with her representation in the 10-12 yr old egg hunt!

The magic of Easter...twofold.

We've had a wonderful weekend with a lot of visitors in town. We've celebrated graduations and Easter and have enjoyed our time together. Happy Easter everyone!

Happenings of the Stark Girls....

2011-04-04T23:23:00.003-05:00

Last week the city spent 3 days digging and re-filling holes on the street outside our house. While this was not conducive to sleeping in, it was the best entertainment our girls have had in some time. It took some real bribing to get them to come inside.

This past Saturday Ella and dad went to their first kid's workshop at Home Depot. They came back rather quickly. I asked Josh what had happened, why had they come back so soon? He told me that Ella didn't want to wear her apron and that she got nervous that there were so many other kids there. The funny thing is that she wore her apron for the next 48 hours. At any rate, they enjoyed a dad/daughter date out on our porch, assembling her flower planter. :) Ella loves "her project" and also carried it around quite a bit.

This next picture shows Ella and Adele to a tea. Ella acting crazy, and Adele taking notes on how she's supposed to be acting. These two are enjoying each other so much these days it's so fun....most of the time. With the fun they have also started to disagree, as siblings sometimes do, but for the most part they have so much fun laughing, playing and being together.
P.S. Adele's hair is getting crazier and curlier by the day, but we love it! Luckily she's got cousin Savannah paving the way for her, so that she'll know how to cut/style it when she gets older :)

Just because...

2011-03-25T14:58:00.002-05:00

The girls, watching morning cartoons, in their car seats. (We were washing the covers at the time).

This picture is classic Adele. She was "helping me" as I made dinner last night. She is also wearing Ella's tennis shoes, which she brings to you, and then usually whines about, until you put them on her.

Another classic Adele shot. Not only does she know how to get into the fridge, apparently she knows how to open the strawberry carton to help herself. We teach them young around here :)

I posted these just because. I just downloaded some pictures from my camera and thought I would add a few from the last day or two. Have a good day!

To listen and obey....

2011-03-23T17:21:00.003-05:00

The following is my conversation with Ella, about an hour ago:

I was a little stern with her, just trying to let her know that I wasn't joking. She then says,

"Mom, you need to be nice!"
"Ella, I am being nice."
"Are you teaching me how to obey?"
"Yes Ella, I'm trying to teach you how to obey?"
"Why?"
"Because I love you"
"Okay!"

As frustrating as being two can be, it brings more comic relief than not! I love my Ella!

Art Class

2011-03-15T20:37:00.002-05:00

Most Monday mornings Ella and I spend together at an Art class. I love it, someone else comes up with 3 different art projects, they set up and clean up, and we have fun! Here is Ella creating her puff paint masterpiece. Ella LOVES Art class!

This past Saturday I took the girls to a St. Patrick's Day party at the school where she has her Art class. She entered a drawing and won some rhythm sticks from the Music teacher. We have been banging the rhythm sticks all day long. Up high, down low, on our bellies, on Adele, mostly anything that's convenient :) It has made for a great day according to Ella!

I'm Tired!!!

2011-03-07T20:35:00.003-06:00

They may have wings and wands in this picture, but I'm not so sure my house was full of fairies or princesses today! Like the heading says...I'm tired!

Look closely at the state of the house behind the girls. I feel like I pick up this kind of chaos 10 times a day, while trying to get a 1 and 2 year old to chip in, with no naps! AGH!

Josh was also gone all day today. Therefore 10% of my conversations went something like this:

Me: "Adele, come here, we need to change your diaper."
Adele: "Blish!" As she runs away from me squealing.

90% of my conversations went like this:

Me: "Ella, what would you like for breakfast?"
Ella: "A bagel with cream on it."

two minutes later after the bagel is toasted, cream cheese applied, and cut into pieces...

Ella: "Mom, I don't want a bagel." (Story of my life)

another example from tonight (I give her options because if I don't she'll most certainly say that I'm doing something wrong).

Me: "Ella would you like the Little Einsteins sippy cup or the Buzz Lightyear one."
Ella: "The Little Einsteins one." Ten seconds later after I've already grabbed it. "No mom! The Buzz Lightyear one!" Ten seconds later after I've made the switch, this time louder and with more excitement, "No, Mom! I REALLY want the Little Einsteins one."

I start shaking my head and mumble something about not being able to work under these conditions. She then picks up on my frustration and likewise mumbles something under her breath, usually something she's heard me say before.

To sum up my day: I love being a mom. Some days its just really special!

A little love from my loves...

2011-02-23T22:52:00.004-06:00

Here are some random pictures downloaded from the camera tonight.

Am I a strict mom? Absolutely! ;) But occasionally I do let my one year old have her own bag of princess fruit snacks. Look at that smile, wouldn't you?

One of Adele's favorite things to do during bath time is to dunk her face in the bubbles and then come up laughing. It also happens to provide me with some comical relief everyday.

Grandma Karen sent Adele a new coat today. She is now an official member of the Stark clan :)

This video is sideways, sorry! Really just watch it if you're a Grandma, it's Ella doing Yoga. I loved it, but I'm her mom :)

I tried to take a video to show off how well Adele uses a fork. She fails to show off that skill in this video...but she's still cute! Again, I'm biased...I'm her mom!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2011-02-15T15:34:00.002-06:00

Ella and Dad, doing what they do best! Watching a movie and snuggling! Chocolate milk mustache free of charge!

Yesterday came and went without much fanfare in the Stark household. Someday I plan on being on top of it. I'll be the mom that decorates, makes pink, heart-shaped somethings for dinner. Don't hold your breath, but regardless, I love all of my Valentine's very, very much. Adele got the attention in the last post, so here's a small declaration of my love for these two, belated, but for Valentine's.

Ella is currently two, and is very good at it. Many days Josh and I look at each other and wonder what kind of child the other one was, because of our dear sweet Ella. She is very charming and lovable, but at times, very, very, TWO! Wink, wink!

Some of my favorite things that she says:

"Mom, I want you!"
When asked why she's doing something, "So, because!"
Today I told her, "Ella, do you know what great taste your mom has in country music?" She looks at me and says, "Mom, I don't taste music!"

Josh: still amazes me. The beginning of the semester was a little hard, because of the heavy load of intense classes that he is taking; however, within a months time he has proven why he is where is, doing what he's doing. He is smart! Don't let him fool you, he is book smarter than me (I'd still say I'm more street smart ;) but he is doing well and making me proud that he's mine. He also continues to do 95% of the laundry, bathroom cleaning, car cleaning, and overall organizing and de-cluttering of the house. I don't say thank you enough! He's good at everything he does, and he rarely points out how grateful I should be for such a good "house-husband" :)

I love my Valentine's and am so blessed and grateful for them in my life!

My DELI !!!

2011-02-07T21:44:00.002-06:00

My Deli Bear is one of the greatest blessings life has given me. I wanted to write a post to share my love for her and verbalize some of the ways that she is special, unique, and our Deli.

1.) She talks A LOT! Most of it is still unrecognizable; however, my mom thinks it sounds like she has a German accent, and Josh has recently started to warn people to stand back...she's a spit talker and can sometimes get you wet!

2.) She loves the dishwasher. I know-what one year old doesn't? But she REALLY loves the dishwasher. Today when I was unloading dishes I caught her face down trying to lick up the residue water...yuck! I know!

3.) Deli likes to eat like it's her job. To this day when we eat out or order out we still usually don't order Ella something separate. We assume she'll just pick off of others. We definitely have to order Adele something separate, she's serious about food and started crying when I ate one of her strawberries today.

4.) She knows some great kung fu/ultimate fighter moves that she saves for when I'm changing her diaper. The second her diaper is off she does this fast kick twist and she's off. She then "runs" away laughing, usually also slapping her belly.

5.) She's starting to have a definite opinion. Granted 95% of the time she is still very mellow and won't put up a fuss when Ella steals every toy away from her, but that other 5% of the time, when she wants something -SHE WILL LET YOU and the rest of the state of Utah know! It's a great combination of yell/cry/tongue out/tears rolling kind of ordeal.

***A background story on her nickname***

Before she was born we planned on naming her Adele, and calling her Ade, pronounced (ah-dee). I don't think we called her that once. While we were in the hospital, a nurse came to take her to do her hearing test. As she was rolling Adele away she started to talk to her. This is how the conversation went:
Nurse: "I saw you were born last night. Out of all the babies who were born, your name is my favorite. If you were my friend I would call you Deli."

When she was out of the room and out of earshot I looked at Josh and said:
"Deli?! That's so ugly!"

Maybe I take that back. I don't think it's ugly, in fact, it fits her perfectly! Thank-you hearing test nurse!

There are so many things that make our Adele special. We love her so much and we love having her in our family...she makes us complete...for now :)

Jesse and Kjerstin's Trip...

2011-01-24T21:46:00.004-06:00

A cute shot of two of my favorite people...

I'm really struggling with posting above the first picture, so here we go below the first picture! This past weekend we've had some great visitors. Josh's brother Jesse and his girlfriend Kjerstin. We're so happy to have visitors and we've had fun trying to show off Utah. They flew in Sat. morning and enjoyed the free, ski the day you fly in, at The Canyons. Park City was a little crazy because of the Sundance Film Festival, but I think they had a great time.

Sunday we spent a good part of the day up at Temple Square touring a lot of the buildings and showing off SLC. Today we did Sundance and they're currently night snowboarding with Josh and Sean as we speak. They leave tomorrow and we'll be sad to see them go. Ella has become best friends with Kjerstin, and has actually warmed up and had a good time with Jesse as well. Come again guys! The rest of you are all invited too! We love to have visitors!

Dad, with our two year old who never stops.....literally!

Our visitors, aren't the cute?

Cute sisters, who love each other very much!

The group, on top of the conference center.

Jesse and KJ about to hit up Sundance!

Thanks for visiting you guys! We loved having you!

Pocatello or Bust!!!

2011-01-24T21:30:00.003-06:00

Excited girls at the hotel pool.

Where's a tubee or a floatee when you need one? Dad was working overtime, but the girls were loving it.

Baby Joseph aka Jimmer (Michael's new nickname for him :) was also enjoying his pool action.

Last weekend my mom came to town and all of us took a road trip up to Pocatello. It was one of Besser's first track meets and we came full force to support her. She competed in long jump, hurdles and shot put, and did well in all of her events. P.S. who knew Jared Allen went to Idaho State? They have a shrine to him there, it was an interesting tidbit of MN trivia that we found out that weekend.

We had a lot of fun, but it was fast, Josh got sick, and we had a two year old that talked 6 hours and 45 minutes of the 7 hour round trip car ride :) All in all we had a good time and were glad to be there for Bess.

Christmas Break

2011-01-24T21:20:00.002-06:00

We had a great Christmas break. We got to enjoy a lot of time with Simone and the rest of our family. We went to the 8th floor Macy's display, swimming, ice skating, on a couple of dates, playing in the snow, and just had a lot of fun hanging out with family. We got to spend Christmas Day with Grandma and Grandpa Stark and Josh's side of the family. We miss Minnesota and had a great time. The only thing we don't miss is the freezing cold...Utah has made me soft, and Minnesota really is cold! Thank-you family for the great Christmas together!

Happy Birthday Adele!!!

2010-12-12T21:50:00.004-06:00

Our cute thing is one today! AGGHH! It has gone way too fast. I love her so much, and am so grateful for the joy she brings to us everyday. I'll have to dedicate another post to her, but for now here are some videos from today. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2010-11-24T03:16:00.006-06:00

There are many things that I am grateful for this year, but two of my greatest blessings are the subjects of most of the following pictures!

I haven't posted in about a month, so here's a recap...

Dellers trying on some old Halloween outfits (she was not a fan)!

Ella loved rocking her old costume one more time!

I know this is lame, but these are the best shots of my girls on Halloween. I was in a rush that night, trying to get to our trunk or treat, so these were at the Halloween Half Marathon in the morning!

Ella was Sleeping Beauty.

Adele was a strawberry.

Josh and Sean were pacers for the Halloween Half. Turns out you get to do it for free when you pace. Score one for us!

This is how successful our picture taking session was that night. They were tired!

At least I had one daughter that was semi-compliant. Cute Curious George and Man in the Yellow Hat if I do say so myself.

This was Bessers and me at the SYTYCD concert. One of us was a little more excited than the other :) (Sorry Bess, I just liked your face in this one, I couldn't help but post it). They put on a great show and I had a great time having a girls night out!

Um....wait a sec....you're growing up too fast!

This past weekend my mom came to visit. On Saturday night we went on the North Pole Express in Heber. We had a great time. Ella was freaked out by the Santa (with good reason though, he was pretty aggressive) but she still was able to stammer out that she wanted a "pink microwave phone (aka pink microphone) and a big bicycle."

Bess wasn't feeling so hot and decided to camp out on our floor. We then told Ella it was time for bed, and she quickly joined Elizabeth and told us she wanted to sleep with her. :)

Grandma already bought Adele's birthday present. Thank-you Grandma, the girls love it!

Onto other big news at the Stark household....I am happy to report we started this new project yesterday. Yesterday 5 accidents, nothing in the toilet. Today 2 accidents, 5 times in the toilet. Good job Ella Bear, you are such a big girl!

Tonight Ella and I had a mommy/daughter date to Knuffle Bunny the play. We went with our friends Kristin and Hailey. Ella had a blast and it was the perfect length. As we were pulling up to our house afterward she said, "Mom, I had so much fun!" Me too Ella, me too.

Getting ready for the show to start.

Ella asked for her own knuffle bunny. The merchandise was 50% off, so I caved!

I love you Ella Bear!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-28T23:26:00.003-05:00

We carved our pumpkins tonight. Both girls had a blast. Ella refused to use her hands in the goop, and preferred the spoon scoop method. Adele preferred the spoon eat method, or the grab the goop and put it back in the pumpkin method :)

Adele having a little fun post de-gooping stage.

She's serious about this stuff. This was some tricky business.

Try number 27....2 half smiles...we'll take it!

The final product. Pumpkin on the left, total Ella masterpiece. Middle pumpkin, Ella drew the face, Josh carved the face. Pumpkin on the right, Ella drew a cougar, I carved the letters...BYU...booyah.

Trial run.

P.S. In so many ways Adele and Ella are the same person, which I hope will lead to a best friendship for the eternities. However, below you will notice one noted difference. Ella wouldn't watch cartoons until she was almost 2. Adele would assume this position all day if you would let her. :)

We love our GA-GA!

2010-10-25T16:34:00.003-05:00

Our adventures this past week led us to Wheeler Farm. Here's Ella feeding the geese and ducks. Chocolate milk on the shirt was complimentary of our picnic beforehand.

This is how our other cute thing feeds the ducks...

My mom came in town this weekend for a too quick visit. These two are bosom buddies, and hard to be separated.

Our hayride. Ella is showing off her, "I know you're talking to me and I think it's funny to ignore you stage."

Here's Ella in the haymaze. Ella actually got the concept and when she would get to a dead end would say, "now which path should we take?"

Yesterday afternoon our little Deli bear would not take a nap. I was trying to get ready for a cousin dinner, so I told Josh, "take her out and play with her for a while, then we'll try the nap again in a half hour or so." Apparently Josh heard, take her out and dress her up as a hospital patient :) I think she's the cutest.

We had a wonderful weekend. My mom came in town and we managed to squeeze a lot into our four days together. We went to the farm, soccer game, shopping, Josh and I took an overnight date up to Salt Lake City, my mom got the 24 hour flu...sorry mom! But thank-you so much, we had a great time and we love you so much!

Adele's 2nd Word...

2010-10-19T20:43:00.003-05:00

Adele's first word was "hi". You will see her second word in the video below.

It makes for a fun game around here.

Me: "Adele, am I your favorite?"
Her: "Ya"

Me: "Do you want vegetables for dinner?"
Her: "Ya"

Good times had by all. P.S. Please ignore the dirty oven cover in the background. I cleaned it right after the video...somehow I didn't notice it quite as much until I saw it on video....whoops :)

Sunday Afternoon.

2010-10-10T23:08:00.003-05:00

We finally have fall in Provo! We took this beautiful Sunday afternoon (when some unmentioned daughters decided not to nap) to take a Sunday drive. We drove up Hobble Creek Canyon. It is beautiful! We loved being surrounded by mountains, nature and beauty. We drove, putzed, admired and tromped around. The girls loved playing in the leaves. Here we are attempting to take a family pic.

Deli playing in the leaves....I love her!

Ella, running away from the family picture :)

Lastly, we have a fun visitor in town! Lauren! Ella has been in heaven having the attention and love from Lauren. They have been buddies. We love having Lauren, and have had a good time. Lauren and I even got to have a sisters date last night to the BYU homecoming football game. We must have been good luck, because we won!

We hope to have a long, beautiful fall, we love it!

We almost melted!

2010-09-22T23:02:00.004-05:00

I don't know why it won't let me write above my first picture, but oh well. Last weekend we went to the state fair. Nothing can beat the great MN get together, but we still had fun. Did I mention it was 93 degrees outside? Oh yes, we almost melted! Just look at Adele's face above and Ella's below...they are saying...."It's HOT!"

Despite the heat, we had a good time. We visited many animal barns, saw the sea lion show, watched pigs racing, people watched and tried to find a decent pronto pup. We wore the girls out and had a good time!

Ella enjoyed petting the donkeys. She wanted to take one home with us, she even went as far as to say "we NEED one!" I'm not so sure about that.

And a snapshot of Ella as we were organizing our winter apparel in our new laundry closet.

That's all :)

I love sisters!

2010-09-22T22:21:00.002-05:00

Ella and Adele are best friends, and they are so cute together. A couple of examples. The other day Adele was freaking out as I was trying to change her diaper. Ella quickly comes over, pins her arms to the ground for me, and then says, "don't worry Deli, it will be done fast!"

Yesterday I handed Ella an almost empty bottle of Aquafina in the car, so that she could finish it. The next thing I hear is Adele fussing. Then I hear, "here you go Dell, don't spill it!" That's right, Ella just wanted to make her happy, so why not give her an open water bottle in the car :)

I just love them together so much, here was a video of tonight's bath time. Forgive the indecency.

Hiking Mt. Timp and other wanderings...

2010-09-18T13:39:00.006-05:00

Josh convinced Michael and Ian (another MN native) to hike Mt. Timpanogos last Saturday. It's something I did when I was a sophomore in college and I don't think Josh wanted to be outdone, so they had their work cut out for them. Not that anyone is counting, but I'm sure my group summitted and descended quicker than they did. No big deal, I'm just saying :)

(I'm going to hear it for that comment I just know it :)

My amazing husband, near the top.

One of the amazing views.

The great company he kept, with a glimmer of fall color in the background!

P.S. For the record it took my group 6 and a half hours up and down (we ran down). They took a little over 7? They slid down the glacier on their bums coming down and somehow thought that would be faster than my running skills....silly boys!

Now here is my proud Ella bear. If you notice under her chair, she's taking after Elizabeth.....argh! (Not that it's a bad thing to take after Elizabeth, I would just rather her decide to be a collegiate track athlete, rather than pick up on her bad habit of ripping up napkins!)

Self-portrait of my buddy and me. Shiner on her eye courtesy of a chair at church.

Ella loves taking pictures, not necessarily being in them, but definitely taking them. Before I got this shot, she had been lining her dolls up to take pictures of them. She was even telling them "say cheese!"

I couldn't post without paying homage to the cutest face in our house. We love you Deli!

And one last shot from this morning. She made a boat out of her play-doh and a fork. She was proud of it, look closely, she's an artist.

We're off to the Utah State Fair this afternoon. I've been bummed that we've missed the great Minnesota get together these past couple of years, so we're hoping Utah will pull through on this one. Wish us luck!

We miss our Minnesota Village!

2010-09-12T01:33:00.004-05:00

If it takes a village to raise a child, then how many does it take to raise two? Three? Whatever the answer I'd prefer to surround myself with as large and as many villages as possible....please! I was in seventh heaven being in Minnesota this summer, and I surely had the help of a village, to have such a fun summer! We raced from activity to activity trying to soak it all up and we had such a fun time. This is a large thank-you to those of you that helped, entertained, loved and supported us this summer....thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

P.S. Have I mentioned lately that my mom is a superwoman? In case I haven't.....SHE IS! I know I will never be able to repay her for everything she has done and continues to do for my family and me....maybe I'll just keep having daughters that adore her....that's pretty good payment right? I love you so much mom and appreciate all you do for us!

P.P.S. We miss Simone so much! Here's a funny Simone story for the night (I have many, I should start a blog just for them, so that she can read them when she's older). First, here's a little background on the story. Simone has always loved swimming, bur four years ago she did it with a life jacket. Three years ago, no life jacket, but definitely no waterslides, or tube rides. Two years ago, kiddie water slides, very, very slow tube ride. Last year big waterslides, I don't think we tubed. So that brings us to this summer.

This summer Simone took it to another level with her dare devilness with water sports. Not only did she want to tube, but she wanted to do it ALL the time, and she wanted to go fast. So three weeks ago Simone and I were on the tube together. David was driving and Simone had told him to give us a "real ride". David was going fast, making lots of circles/waves and then pulling us through them. We hit many bumps and went flying in the air many times. In my mind I was thinking about how impressed I was that Simone was holding on so well and was so strong. Finally, after a long tube ride, David hit a wave just right, with just enough speed and Simone went flying off. She loved it, but do you know what she said to me when we went to pick her up? "Wow Lindsay, I'm really surprised you didn't fall off before me!"

It gave me a good laugh. She apparently thinks I've gotten pretty wimpy :)

Sundance

2010-09-06T23:36:00.005-05:00

We had a great day at Sundance today. We rode the ski lift up, hiked around, rode down. (The boys and Bess actually ran down the mountain). We then walked around and had a good lunch. The girls did great and we really enjoyed the scenery and beautiful mountains, it is one of the most peaceful places ever! We were sad to say good-bye to Grandma and Grandpa today, come back soon!

Just growing up....

2010-09-05T08:42:00.004-05:00

Adele has been known to choke on anything, so I was excited yesterday when we tried watermelon and it was a hit. She was loving it.

When I took out the camera to capture Adele, Ella wanted to be a part of the action too, so here she is eating watermelon :)

I love how the girls are getting to an age where they are playing "together". Here they are behind the chair.

Making up some game in the hallway.

That's it! Happy Sunday!

Summer pics...

2010-08-04T16:30:00.004-05:00

The other weekend a good high school friend came in town. She took pictures of the girls for me. I've only seen a couple so far, but can't wait to see the rest. These are technically for Ella's 2nd birthday pictures and Adele's 6 months (even though she's a little past that...whoops :)

P.S. I was amazed at her talent, but let's be honest, this has got to be a rewarding job. Who could look at pictures of their kids and not love them?!?!

Ella's Highlight!

2010-07-30T17:29:00.004-05:00

Hands down, Ella's biggest highlight of the summer has been hanging out with these two cute people. She loves them and talks about them all the time. Let's hope her cousins never get tired of Ella following them around and copying them....she loves it!

This is our cute thing trying out Grandma's high chair that attaches to the table.....she's a big deal, she knows :)

That's right, those are Gerber Puffs in her hands. She hasn't quite figured out what to do with them, but we thought we'd try!

Splash Padding it...

2010-07-15T16:50:00.005-05:00

We found a jackpot today. We headed to the Splash Pad in St. Louis Park for the first time, it was money. There's a regular park, picnic area, and then the splash pad area. We all had a good time and hope to head back again soon. Another perk....it was free!

I can never get all 3 looking at the same time...kudos to the mom who can!

Adele loves the water...lucky for her, she has a sister who loves taking her in the water!

Side note: This cute thing learned how to give kisses today. She full out grabbed my face, held on, and open mouth tongued my face. It was a little more like licking than kissing, but we'll cut her some slack :) It made me cry, partly because it tickled, mostly because I love her!

Random picture from a few weekends ago. We had a family date (minus Adele) to the Twins game. We had a good time, too bad the Twins traded out a pitcher who was on fire for a dud in the 8th inning, 2nd pitcher lost the game....agh!

Simone doing some business at the Splash Pad. Some times you have to put the boys in their place!

Yesterday it was rainy, 90 and humid. I gave Simone a couple of options for a daily plan. I suggested a couple of museums, and at the end I mentioned, "or if you want to go the Mall of America theme park, we could try that." For some weird reason she thought that sounded like the better option :)

Ella didn't complain, we spent some QT with her BF...pictured below.

Adele on her first ride. We asked if she could go on, the attendant said, "if she can sit unassisted then she can go." Good job showing off your unassisted sitting skills girlfriend!

The option to drive? Sounds good!

Until next time....

4th of July Week

2010-07-08T11:18:00.003-05:00

I don't think we've ever celebrated the 4th of July for a whole week, but I'm not complaining...it's what the founding fathers would want! We've been doing lots of playing. I have a lot of catching up to do, but here are a few shots from this week.

Simone and Ella preparing to take the tube out. What's cuter than a 2 year old helping to carry a tube? Not much. :)

Ready, Set, Tube!

That is some big wake...those crazy girls must have been going pretty fast!

Despite what it looks like, Ella had a great time and she even said, "I had fun!" When we got done.

At the man made beach yesterday.

We had lots of sand action in our hair, and diapers after this one.

Is it hard to tell why Adele loves Simone so much?

That's right, Adele was rocking out in that water...baby!

Most importantly we've just had so much fun being together. Simone is such a great big sister and has two little sisters that adore and follow her everywhere!

Strawberry Picking!

2010-06-19T14:13:00.006-05:00

Last summer we had a great time in Utah; however, there were a couple of fun family traditions we missed, like strawberry picking! We had a fun time with cousins this morning as we picked strawberries and then brought them home to make jam. We figured we picked almost 35 lbs ....wow! Here's some of the action!

The best part of picking strawberries.....is eating strawberries!

That's right girl...you worked hard, you deserve it.

This is how Adele likes to pick strawberries.

A lot of the strawberry picking crew.

Cousins. P.S. Simone is here for the summer....yah!

Where can I find a happy, strawberry picker to help? Oh wait, there she is!

Me trying to teach Easy E how to pick the red ones. She had about 90% success rate....not too shabby girlfriend.

Garage Sale.....

2010-06-19T14:03:00.006-05:00

This past Wednesday the girls and I headed up to Mora (small town Minnesota) to help set up for Great Grandma Stark's garage sale. Adele enjoyed herself, Ella had a blast. She had Grandma Karen's attention, lots of grass and gardens to run through, and all the random toys and trinkets a girl could want.

Just hanging out on a blanket someone was trying to sell, with a Missy Bear we were trying to sell...she was just showing how well they both work!

Minnesota Trip 2010.......baby!

2010-06-01T21:09:00.008-05:00

This past weekend our good friends from Utah, Sean and Megan came to visit. We had a blast and tried to show off Minnesota.

Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera everywhere, but here are some of the shots we took.

We went up to Duluth for a day of exploring, hiking and spending time with Simone. Here are the girls in the hotel bed together.
P.S. Adele makes my heart melt in that picture...clutching to her blankie like that!

Josh and Simone at Canal Park, watching a ship come in.

Here she comes...

Our stinker, who didn't want to stay in the stroller on the walk, waiting for the ship.

Our cute thing, who didn't mind the stroller so much!

The sculpture gardens of Minneapolis.

The Twins game with Megs, Sean and the Evster.

Baby Aaron's baby blessing on Sunday.

Ella at the Children's Museum....she was in HEAVEN!

Shopping.

Playing guitar on the T.V.

Moving blocks from point A to point B to build something ?

Megs and Ella enjoying the water experiments.

We also visited the Farmers Market, swimming, Lake Calhoun and the Mall of America. It was a great vacation for us and we're so happy they came to visit. Come again soon Sean and Megan!

Twins Game, New Stadium....

2010-06-01T21:05:00.002-05:00

Last Tuesday Ella and I had a mother/daughter date. I don't know about her, but I had the time of my life. I really enjoyed our time together and just being able to carry her, love her and have fun with her. The game ended up being delayed for rain after 5 innings, but we still got some ice cream, met up with cousins and had a great time.

Here's Ella after we met up with Lucy and Adam. Lucy and her were twins....no pun intended :)

Ella and me in front of the new Target Field, home of the Twins.

The Beginning of our Summer....

2010-05-25T13:50:00.006-05:00

We've had a great beginning to our summer. We've seen good friends, and had a great time with Family. We've been to the Zoo, celebrated a 2nd birthday, been the Children's Theater and had a lot of fun together. I've been horrible with pictures so I tried to start making up.....all in one day. So here are some pictures from yesterday and today.Ella with her shopping cart.

Two loves of my life.

Ella in the bath says, "Mom, Adele kicking! No thank-you Adele!"

Grandma Karen brought Ella this pool today. It's been hot and humid, so we've wasted no time in putting it to good use.

Thanks Grandma Karen!

My Big Girl....

2010-04-21T21:39:00.003-05:00

Ella will be 2 on May 2nd....her golden birthday! We love her so much, she is one of the greatest blessings that has ever happened to us. We are so lucky to have her as a part of our family!

A couple of things Ella loves to do these days:

-"Race" she says, "On your marks, get set" and then waits for me to say "GO!"

-She loves playing with her hockey stick and playing with her dad out in the quad.

-She loves going to Art Class. I have to drag her from station to station, she could sit put at any art station for a long time.

- She loves hanging out with Mrs. Wing (the 87 year old I work for). She bosses her around and likes to play the piano with her and take rides on her walker or her upper/downer. (The chair that electronically goes up and down the stairs.)

Her stats are:

Height: 37 inches - 99.59%

Weight: 28.68 - 79.25%

Head: 19.6 inches - 96.36%

We love you Ella!

Easter Weekend...

2010-04-09T02:05:00.005-05:00

We had a great Easter Weekend. Highlights and Lowlights of the past week as follows:

Highlights:

1.) Parents came in town to visit, always a bonus!

2.) Fun meals at Sundance and our house.

3.) Ella fending for herself in the Provo, Pioneer Park Easter Egg Hunt.

4.) Ella trying to give Adele fist bumps.

5.) Adele being ready to sleep unswaddled.

6.) Ella is putting more and more words together and making small sentences. One example, when I was getting her from her crib yesterday morning my phone rang, she heard it and said, "Mom's phone, grab it!"

7.) General Conference!

Lowlights:

1.) Ella now thinks candy is an appropriate thing to ask for, for breakfast.

2.) Adele sometimes has a hard time falling asleep because she's not swaddled. (However, when we try to swaddle her, she loudly tells us, it's no longer for her).

3.) The 20-30 minute line at the Honeybaked Ham store last Saturday, with 2 children under 2 in tow.

Grandma and Ella dying eggs!

I helped, we had to watch this little one, she was swift when throwing the eggs into the dye!
This is an often assumed position these days. (She's looking out the window to see if she can see any buses, fire trucks or motorcycles...you know...the usual).

Just hanging out during lunch today.

Here was the 2 and under section at the Pioneer Park Easter Egg Hunt; unfortunately a couple of 12 year-olds still decided to dominate the area.

Before the hunt started they came over the loud speakers to remind the parents that the hunt was for the children. This doesn't mean I didn't give Ella a small pep talk and a couple of pointers/tactics for the hunt!

Good job Ella!

It was also quite blustery and chilly, way to stick it out Ella!

Adele....

2010-03-14T17:22:00.002-05:00

Here is Adele at 3 months. She's squirming around more, kicking more, "talking" more and more interactive. She loves to suck on her hands and watch her family. The video...per request from Grandma:

Forehead....

2010-03-13T01:24:00.003-06:00

What tells you that you need to clip your nails and get more sleep?

When you do this to yourself in your sleep......

And it doesn't wake you up!

I woke up with this shiner on my forehead yesterday! It was bleeding. And it hurt!

On a brighter note, this cute thing turned 3 months!

She's gaining more personality and is the cutest little girl ever! We feel so lucky to have her in our family. She's so mellow and just goes with the flow. Happy 3 months Adele! Thank-you for choosing us as your family, we love you!

A great big sister....

2010-03-02T23:09:00.002-06:00

Ella is really starting to get this big sister thing down. A couple of times a day she asks to "hold Dell." She loves her little sister and truly cares about her. I hope the love continues to grow and they become better and better friends each day!

Helping to feed Adele.

Snuggling in the morning.
Just hanging out today.

You're a great big sister Ella, we love you so much!

Videos of the girls....

2010-02-21T22:17:00.005-06:00

Here is Ella eating her first peanut butter sandwich.

Because she had a friend over who was also eating a PB & J.

These next two are for Grandmas. Adele's is of her being Adele. The one of Ella is kind of funny. We had some friends over tonight, who both had younger daughters. We got out Ella's old bouncer so they could use it...Ella got jealous and wanted her turn. We laughed pretty hard.

Today in church we talked about the creation. These two are definitely the best part of the creation :)

True Love...

2010-02-15T21:37:00.002-06:00

Adele started fussing, Ella wanted to hold her. Put them together, this is what you get.

I love these two so much!

Adele's 2 months!

2010-02-12T01:04:00.003-06:00

Adele, 2 months:

Length: 23 inches 73 percentile
Weight: 11 lbs. 2 oz. 60 percentile
Head: 46 percentile

At 2 months she has found her fists and loves sucking on them and licking them. She "tracks" me as I walk around the room, and also loves to stare at her sister. However, I must add it's easy to stare at someone when they like to get right up in your face. It's also easy to give them attention, when they're loudly saying "I dooo Dell." Translation, "I love you Adele." or "SQUEEEEEZE" as she tries to hug Adele. For the record, Adele's tear duct hasn't unplugged yet, but it does look great, her eyes look great and normal.

A little update on Ella: She's addicted to apple juice and her leap frog ABC show. She would be a happy woman if we kept her sippy cup full and the video on repeat. I love them both so much!

2010-02-03T21:23:00.003-06:00

Ella won't let me take her picture these days. I take out the camera and she runs away, runs behind me, or starts crying...what? So here are some classics as of late...

This is what we make her do when we get home from church ;)

Running away from the camera...
She did get up on the couch to "stretch" with Adele...cute girls.

This video is for the Grandmas. This cute thing is growing up so fast. She kicks, reaches, follows and talks much more. She also gets lots of love from her older sister and takes most of it pretty well. However, when she gets hurt or has had enough, she's definitely found her voice!

Getting so Big!

2010-01-28T18:49:00.002-06:00

Adele has been giving us smiles for almost 2 weeks and I had yet to document it, so out came the camera this morning. This is the biggest we got with the on demand approach that sometimes we use as moms :) Look at how good her eye looks (it's the right one when you're looking at her, that has been giving us trouble). Yeah for Adele!

This is the most serious we can get Ella to look when we say, "say cheese!"

Our silly girls.

2010-01-20T00:30:00.002-06:00

Our cute 20 month old is desparately trying to give up her naps....I am desparately trying to hold on to them. At least she'll still give me a good 2 hours of quiet time. Let me define quiet time: she loudly sings and talks in her crib, without being sad or yelling. Today, however, she started to sound "fussy" during her quiet time. I went in to see what was the matter-this is what I found!

A new fashion statement maybe?

This is my cute stuff as I was cleaning the kitchen tonight.

Ella really wanted her baby to be with our baby in the bouncy seat last night....we obliged.

In this last picture you can see that Adele's eye is puffy. About a week after she was born we realized she had a blocked tear duct. It got infected, cleared up, and is now throwing us for a loop again. It's puffy all the way around, swollen and kind of red. She also has some bruising. We took her to the Dr. again today to get it looked at. We got a referrel and are going to see the Pediatrician Opthamologist on Friday, please wish us luck in getting this worked out for her!

A Wonderful Weekend...

2010-01-18T16:56:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Jonathan and Bessers!

This past weekend my mom came to visit and we had a great time. Here are a couple of pictures.

This poor cute thing is not getting nearly as many pictures taken of her as Ella did. Here is her tummy time from today.

Family dinner last night. Poor Josh was in the bathroom choking at the time of this pic. Sorry Josh!
19 is so old Bess! We're sorry Jonathan and family couldn't have been here too to have cake and play games!

These two had some good bonding time this weekend.

We visited and introduced Adele to Grandma Johnston!

That's all....we hope you visit again soon Mom!

Happy 4th Josh!

2010-01-15T00:52:00.002-06:00

I've been a horrible blogger, and have much to catch up on, but with a few spare minutes tonight, I wanted to wish my wonderful husband a Happy Anniversary!

I could have never seen where these past 4 years would have brought us, but I am so grateful for the experiences, love and children that they have brought. Thank-you for everything that you do and everything that you are. I love you!

Our girls....

2009-12-16T16:10:00.004-06:00

I tried to get Ella's 18 month pictures taken before Adele came. It was something I thought would never get done if I waited. I tried twice and struck out twice. I guess third time's the charm. Maybe it was a good thing I waited, this way Adele actually has a newborn photo. Ella didn't actually get a professional photo done until she was 6 months...whoops!

At any rate, thank-you Mom for helping me accomplish the impossible. We got two girls in for pictures this morning. We got one semi smiling and the other with her eyes open. Check and check! Here are the results:

I love these two so much!

Our brand new bundle of joy!

2009-12-14T21:25:00.004-06:00

She's here! Adele Ryann Stark joined us at 5:35 P. M. Saturday the 12th. She is 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 19 inches long.

We've loved getting to know her. Josh and I can see differences from Ella already! It's crazy, when you have one child you just assume that's how they'll all turn out. We're excited for the new journey this will bring us on. So far we know that she likes to eat and sleep...

For the women who wanted a quick recap of the birthing story:

Got to the hospital at 9:45 A.M. to be induced, I started at 3 cm. I was in a bed and got hooked up to Penicillin and Pitocin at 11. Got the epidural about 11:30. Layed there until 3, when they decided to break my water. By this time I had only dilated about 2 cm. Only dilated 1 cm that next hour. After that first hour everything else came fast and furious. I started pushing at 5:30 and she was here at 5:35. Such a huge contrast from Ella! Thank-you Adele for being fast....thank-you Ella for paving the way :)

More pics to come soon!

Thanksgiving in Park City.

2009-12-11T21:14:00.002-06:00

I am a little late in posting, but we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Some of our family flew in and we all stayed together at the Marriott in Park City. We had a lot of fun relaxing, hanging out and eating good food. We also got a date night in there to watch New Moon (thanks Josh) and even did a little black Friday shopping. We had a great time with family and enjoyed the break. Here are a few pictures.

Our Cuteness...

After swimming in Park City.

Ella could have swam for hours...unfortunately her dad got too cold :)

Bessers and Ella showing off their boots.

Having fun with the cousins.

Lucy and Ella with flat Sarah.

A New Post....

2009-11-15T12:49:00.004-06:00

We're still here! Life has been crazy. I still have 4 weeks left, and I'm as big now as I was at the very end with Ella! AGH! This one has also been harder on me. I have almost no feeling in my right hand and am worried about my circulation. We're just praying she joins us sooner rather than later.

Besides that life has been pretty normal. Ella is cute and growing. We just had her 18 month appointment this week. She's 99% for height and 81% for weight....good job Ella! Josh is continuing to do well at school, he's crazy busy, but doing well. I'm just plugging along and doing my thing as well. I'm still working all 3 jobs right now. Other than that life is good, we're happy and doing well. Here's a pic and video for those who might be Ella admirers. (They also happen to be about the only pic and video that have been taken lately....whoops!)

Eating her own cereal for breakfast - and proud of it!

Learning how to do a somersault.

Our Talking Girl.....

2009-10-27T00:24:00.003-05:00

It's been way too long since I've posted, but I've got a good excuse right? Being pregnant is hard work! However, I'm not the only one growing around here. Ella get's bigger and learns more by the day. Unfortunately she's sick right now...but she's still cute! This video was from today. Today she had a 103 fever, threw up, and didn't feel well, but look at how cute she still is! Here we are showing off our words, Ella and myself.

I hope you enjoyed. I'll have to post again soon, we have had a fun weekend in Vegas, good weekend home and have been busy!

Just Cause....

2009-09-30T22:22:00.002-05:00

Two things I would like to "journal" for the night. Firstly, Josh is an amazing dad. He thinks of things that I don't. Today was the first "cold" day in P-town, and it's still only in the 40's. I just got home from a baby shower and went in Ella's room to check on her. I noticed that Josh put a warm, fuzzy blanket on the bottom of her crib and tucked it in all around. I was impressed that dad thought of how to make his daughter warm and even more comfortable. I then looked and saw that he still had the fan going for white noise, but that he pointed it and locked it so it's not blowing on her. Now folks I know these are small things, but that's the difference, I'm impressed I have a husband that pays attention to these details. This little one is lucky!

Secondly, I just wanted to express my love to this cute almost 17 month old. My days are so fun because I spend them with her. Both of these pictures were taken this week. She is getting so big! She is saying more and more words everyday. Words that she clearly says are: please, mama, dada, car, keys, puppy, doggie, yucky, no, cheese, squeeze, eyes, nose, hello, bye, night night and drumroll.... Marie. Sorry to all of you aunts and uncles who don't live as close :) . I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Words that she says, just not as clearly are: Simone, Grandma, Bear Bear, blanket, up. She has a great personality and makes me laugh so hard. She is also learning to give great "squeezes." We love you so much Ella!

**Sidenote** Megan and Sean had their cute Evilyn last Thursday. Megs had a great delivery. Sean said it best when I visited them at the hospital that night. He said, "Lindsay, it sound like the only similarity between your delivery and Megan's was that a baby came out at the end!" Here's to wishing that the 2nd one goes easier!

Like father....like daughter...:)

2009-09-17T00:06:00.004-05:00

Ella loves her dad immensely. Who can blame her? No one else swings her around, throws her up, tickles her, or plays with her in quite the same way. Her dad also always shares his food, lets her take his spot in bed (on sick nights), swims with her, reads to her, talks to her in silly voices, and loves her so genuinely.

Lately Ella has shown her love back, by wanting to be just like her dad...the pictures will explain.

Doing laundry Ella wanted to wear Dad's running shirt.

Straight out of bed, Ella grabbed these, and she knew what to do.
Ella cruising around (these are actually Sean's shoes, but I think Ella thought they were dad's.)
***this was the look I got when I told her, "Ella, say cheese!" We'll have to work on that one :)

Last night Dad tried on his hockey shin guards, so what did Ella want to do? You guessed it. Dad was nice enough to strap them on for her!

I love you both, thanks for making me smile!

Pocatello "Running the Gap" Half Marathon

2009-09-07T16:47:00.002-05:00

This past weekend we had a little getaway to the great land of Pocatello. Josh ran his second half-marathon on Saturday morning. He was amazing. He ran it 24 minutes faster than his last one and he felt great. We were a proud mama and baby cheering him on. For those of you that care, enlarge the first picture and you'll see one of Ella's first ponytails.

Highlights of the race:

- Josh doing so well.
- Getting 2 sacks of potatoes and hashbrowns at the finish line.
- Ella doing so well on both car rides.
- Being together as a family.

Grandma Stark's 80th Birthday!

2009-08-24T14:26:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday we had a birthday party for Grandma Stark. We had a great time seeing relatives and spending time together. Grandma got a new digital camera, which hopefully she'll get the hang of soon!

One reason to love Minnesota.

2009-08-24T13:41:00.002-05:00

One reason we love Minnesota is the many lakes.

Another is getting to play with cute people by the lake.

We've been having a great time here. This was an especially fun night. Lucy and Adam slept over. We went to the park, the beach, Dairy Queen and then home for bed. We wish we lived this close all the time!

Josh and Simone Hiking the Y.

2009-08-24T00:00:00.004-05:00

The Tuesday before we headed home Josh and Simone hiked the Y. It wasn't an easy feat, but both were happy to have done it. Sean tagged along to be the personal picture taker ;) He actually just snapped some shots and threw them together in a video. We think Sean has amazing talent, and were happy he captured this memory. We hope you enjoy as well.

http://vimeo.com/6239116

"We saw the USA in our Chevrolet....."

2009-08-19T16:33:00.003-05:00

*****I have backposted a couple of posts, so make sure you read all the way down :) *****

Last Friday we set out to do the impossible. We traveled across the country with a one year old. We knew Simone would be fine, but to say we were worried about Ella was an understatement. To our delight, they were both wonderful, and we had a great time.

Our first stop was Idaho Falls. We swam, ate and spent the night. The next morning we woke up and drove to Yellowstone where we spent the day. Besides the slight delay of Obama's visit shutting down Old Faithful for an hour or so, we also had a great time here. Can I just say how much I love Yellowstone? Where else can you get inches away from a Buffalo, see Old Faithful, take amazing hikes to waterfalls, and observe different wonders of the world. (Let's be honest, how do you really get a "paint pot" or a "geyser." All I know is that they're pretty cool.)

That night we spent in a cabin outside of Yellowstone and then took off for Rapid City the next day. In Rapid City we swam, visited Bear Country and Mount Rushmore. Can I also just say how much I love Rapid City? There's so much to do, too bad we didn't stay longer. Anyway we are now back in MN, but just wanted to share our travels.....here they are:

Paint Pots

Old Faithful

Three of my favorite people, doing one of their favorite things!

Park City!

2009-08-19T16:08:00.006-05:00

I heart Park City. There's just something about it, that makes you want to live there. Could be the beautiful mountains, or being surrounded by fun resorts, shops and restaurants, not to mention great shopping. Who knows? But I know I could go over and over, and never get bored. About a week and a half ago we went and spent the day up in Park City. We had a blast and did a lot of fun things.

We first spent a couple of hours at Olympic Park. Here is Dad and the girls watching the bobsledders.

At Olympic Park Simone bravely went on the zip line. This was the biggest one she could go on because of weight restrictions, but she had no fear, and gladly would have gone on the bigger one if possible.

Going down the zip line.

Posing next to the Moose on main street where we got dinner and ice cream.

Watching the aerial jumpers practice at Olympic Park. For those who haven't watched this I highly recommend it. I think it's so entertaining.

We also got plenty of back to school shopping done at the Outlets, and just had a fun time overall. We can't wait to go back for Thanksgiving!!!

End of Summer...

2009-08-19T15:53:00.002-05:00

Our whole family is going to miss Simone immensely when she returns to Duluth in a couple of days. I know one little one year old, who is especially going to be sad.

Who is Ella going to jump on and wake up every morning?

Who is going to let her act like a big girl and teach her big girl things? :)

(***disclaimer, we were stopped in a parking lot, Ella didn't really ride like this!)
We love you so much Simone!

Introducing......

2009-08-05T14:45:00.003-05:00

Adele Ryann Stark!

Coming to join our family mid-December....and we can't wait to meet her.

Isn't she the cutest baby ever? ;)

During the ultrasound I was happy to see she looked healthy. Josh was happy to see that she looked calm and cooperative, here's to wishful thinking!

Summer!

2009-08-05T14:40:00.004-05:00

This was our cuteness after taking a 4 hour nap, right after going swimming.

Here she is after Simone "made her fancy."
And again, trying to be like Simone, she is ready to go swimming!

I have been horrible at taking pictures of the girls this summer! Ella has had way more taken of her, because Simone does all the taking of pictures. Maybe next summer it will be evened out, if Ella is old enough to take some of Simone!

Fun, fun weekend....

2009-07-26T22:21:00.002-05:00

This past Friday was my mom's birthday. My dad, being a wonderful husband, flew in all of her daughters and daughter-in-laws as a surprise to celebrate. The grand kids were an extra bonus. (Let's be honest, once kids are in the picture I think the fact that we're there is an afterthought.) At any rate we had a good time celebrating and being together. The weekend included a wonderful breakfast at the Original Pancake House, the zoo, swimming, b-b-queing, and just a lot of good time together. Here's most of the crew stopping for snacks at the zoo.

Ella showing off her swimming skills at the pool.

Such a big girl, playing with the rings.

Savannah and Ella scheming together.

We put the kids in the crib to have fun together. One child thought it was bedtime and was not happy.

This is our brave one year old, feeding the giraffe, at the zoo.

Ella and Lucy dancing together.

Trying to educate my daughter on the wonderful animals.

Ella enjoyed being so close to the grizzlies.

Slathering on the sunscreen.

P.S. Josh and Simone also had a very fun weekend. We pricelined them a hotel up in the SLC for a weekend getaway. They enjoyed touring Temple Square and This is the Place Heritage Park. I also think with those two there was quite a bit of hotel swimming and some good eating out. Let's cross our fingers that when we head home tomorrow they'll have taken some great pictures of their weekend as well.

Cousins Dancing

2009-07-26T21:48:00.004-05:00

Ella busting a move. She learned everything she knows from her dad :)

Can't underestimate the power of moving from side to side.

Sundance

2009-07-22T17:09:00.003-05:00

I have not been the best blogger lately, despite the many fun activities we've done. I've actually been an even worse picture taker....oh well! A week or two ago we took the Friday night to go have some Sundance fun. We rode the chair lift up, hiked down, and then enjoyed some sandwiches, smoothies and fruit at the deli.

We had a lot of fun and two very tired girls afterwards. We whipped out the Baby Bjorn, for one last hoorah, and mostly because we were afraid of a squirmy Ella on the chairlift.

Family picture at the top.

The troopers on the hike down.

What is the saying, "if you can't beat them, join them?" After many repeated attempts at getting Ella to not stand on the dishwasher, I finally just had to take a picture....whoops!

P.S. Josh had some great "Dad" quotes on the hike. I wish I would have written some of them down. One was to the effect of, "Simone, hiking consists of focusing and watching where your feet go, so let's do that."

We've been blessed.....

2009-07-15T14:25:00.002-05:00

Two things I'd like to focus on in today's blog, both for which we are very grateful:

Numero Uno: Our family's amazing opportunities and Josh's hard work.

This first year at BYU Josh had a tough load of many pre-requisites, in order apply for the Accounting Program. We knew that getting into the Accounting Program was not going to be an easy feat and that he had his work cut out for him. It was intimidating and inspiring to know that The Public Accounting Report and The U.S. News and World Report had ranked BYU's Accounting Program 2nd in the nation.

We have been blessed and grateful to learn last week that Josh has been accepted into BYU's Accounting Program. I'm so happy for and proud of my husband and all of the hard work he has put into school . Yay for Josh.

Numero dos: I've just been thinking today of how grateful I am for one of my jobs. I have been very blessed to have found a couple of great part time jobs here in Provo. We have been able to work around Josh's school schedule so that I can work, yet we can stay home with the kids. The job I am grateful for today, and everyday is Mrs. Wing. I found her in the Daily Universe. She advertised herself as an elderly lady who just wanted a little extra help. During the school year I took Ella with me almost everyday, now that it's summer she only comes with me about 50%. Anyway, we go to her house to do just about anything from cook, clean, grocery shop, take her to appt.s and whatever else we can think of to do. I can't tell you how enjoyable this has been. Today we went over to her house for a couple of hours and just sat and chatted with her as we cooked out of her cookbook. We made a delicious fruit salad, and then an equally good pasta salad. I am so grateful for the time I have been able to spend with her. There is a lot to be learned from an 86 year old woman who grew up on a farm, is an amazing cook, raised 4 kids on her own on a teacher's salary and that values her religion and education more than most things. This job has provided for us, taught me a lot and just been very enjoyable. She also thinks Ella is the smartest, and cutest thing that has ever walked the earth, which doesn't hurt either :)

The only thing that makes me sad is how much I would enjoy spending this time with my own grandparents; however, we have enjoyed the love and lessons we have learned from Mrs. Wing.

Happy 4th of July!!!

2009-07-08T00:53:00.006-05:00

Does it look like someone enjoys having her sister around?

This is just one post of many that need to come, but here's a little recap of our 4th!

We enjoyed what Provo had to offer and went to the Freedom Festival. Simone got to ride some rides and we all got to enjoy the fair appeal :)

On the day of the 4th we woke up early to go to the hot air balloon festival. We then enjoyed the parade, the park, a great bar-b-que and Stadium of Fire Fireworks. We're so grateful that Simone is with us, we've had a great time and are happy for a great summer!

This next movie is of early on the 4th, when we went to the hot balloon festival. We got to watch the balloons blow up, take off and participate in a fox and hound kind of game, it was a good time.

This was actually the next night....we know how to make the most of the 4th weekend!

Josh's Bear Lake Half Marathon

2009-06-15T15:07:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we spent up at Bear Lake, which for most Utahns is a little piece of heaven on earth. We'll trust you on that one, we got rained on, a lot. We even had to cut the trip a little short. But overall we had a blast and we got what we came for.....Josh's half marathon. Josh did a half marathon Saturday morning, around the beautiful, turquoise lake. He did very well, and I was a very proud wife. Here are some pictures from the weekend, in no particular order.

Sean running the last mile with Josh, who was running at quite a fast pace.

Josh approaching the last mile marker.
These are my photography skills while driving. He's got about 3 1/2 miles left at this point. Looking strong Josh, looking strong!

The happy family at the finish line.

All of Josh's supporters.

What weekend of camping is complete without a little rock eating?

A very happy little girl, waking up in her tent.

These are Sean's filming skills at their best. I was just impressed that he kept up for the whole last mile to film, here's my Josh:

When Ella Helps....

2009-06-12T09:05:00.002-05:00

When Ella helps feed herself it looks like this:

p.s. this was last night, and she actually used a fork. I was very proud.

When Ella helps fold the laundry it looks like this:

When Ella helps empty the dishwasher the dishes end up here: (our family room chair)

And it looks like this:

When Ella helps take out the garbage it looks like this: (the middle of the kitchen floor)

This is us as parents trying to show off. Ella knows the sign "to take a bath" better than any other. We wanted to show you how cute it is. She's doing it for the first 10 seconds, but she's sideways or walking away from the camera. So pretty much in this video we're just following her into the bath, but we still thought it was cute.

P.P.S A big happy birthday to the best husband, dad and friend that we could ever ask for. What is this one 30?