Not in Kansas (er, Texas and Blanding) Anymore: There's No Place Like Home!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween! James is home from Texas (hooray!)and we drove home together from Blanding yesterday. We had a great time, but it's good to be home! And for a busy little girl who hates being strapped in her car seat, Bethany endured the seven-hour trip very well (thanks to lots of DVDs and fruit snacks). And speaking of DVDs, I was in deep thought the other day (uh-oh, you're in for it now) about DVDs in the car. Thought I, "How did our parents manage to haul us around on long trips without the help of DVDs and not go completely insane?" Then the answer came to me as an epiphany: they didn't have to confine their kids in car seats, that's how. When I was a kid, they didn't have seat belt laws. I just roamed the car as I pleased. I remember laying in the back of our station wagon with my little bare feet pressed against the window (it felt good and cold). I even clearly remember my brother, who shall remain nameless, using a porta-potty in the back of the car while we cruised down I-15. So all I have to say is it's a darn good thing we have portable DVD players these days, since they make us tie our kids up and restrict their freedom! But no use pining for the good ole days, I guess it's safer now (but sadly, not as much fun). But I've digressed yet again.

Anyway, we made it home last night just in time for our ward Halloween carnival. We were so excited to wear the costumes we worked so hard on! (Um, we're thinking of simplifying a little next year!) Thanks again, Dad, Annie and Mom (Lyman) for all of your help with the costumes! Bethany was the cutest little Dorothy ever. And James was the hunkiest Tin Man I've ever seen! We had so much fun dressing up we're hitting another carnival tonight and the FSA Halloween party tomorrow. We need to get some mileage out of these costumes! Below are some more pics from last night. Happy Halloween, everybody!

Move Over, Strawberry Shortcake!

Here comes "Blueberry Beth!" I think all of that sticky sweetness would be the perfect action figure doll, don't you? Messy hair and all? Bethie sure loves her blueberries! And interestingly enough, every blueberry-eating-day somehow becomes laundry day . . . hmmmm. I wonder if they're connected?

Authentic Navajo Tacos and Other Thoughts from the Southeast

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Ya'ta'he! from southeastern Utah! Bethany and I are having a blast. Today we went down to Bluff to the Twin Rocks Cafe for some authentic Navajo tacos--meaning they were made by actual Navajos and not by me in our kitchen at home--yummy! And Sweetheart, seeing as you're in Texas I went ahead and ate onions on my taco. Good thing this isn't smell-a-blog. ("I stink! I stink!") Anyway, the scenery down here is so great! Pictured above are the Navajo Twins. Bethany was enthralled ("Rock! Rock!").

We also stopped by the old Bluff Fort. I can't imagine having seven children and having to live in a tiny one-room cabin. I'd be so cranky all the time! No wonder they never smiled for the pictures! Bethany loved running around the fort and even sampled some of the dirt--mmmmm. (She ate sand the other day, too. What's with the southeastern dirt that she finds so appealing? She never eats dirt at home!) Anyway, enjoy the pictures from today and happy trails to you! We love you and miss you Daddy!

Firfaffes and Fun Adventures from Blanding

So, Bethany and I are in Blanding, Utah! James had to go on a last-minute business trip to Houston (and he had to drive, poor man!) so Bethany and I decided to come to Blanding while he's gone to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma Lyman. Aunt Annie has joined us as well, such fun! Anyway, I wanted to put some pictures up so Daddy can see what his girls have been up to! WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY, SWEETIE! Below are some photos of what we've done so far, including visits with Great-Grandpa Lyman (he's 92 and we're so glad he's finally met Bethie!)and how your Tin Man costume is shaping up, thanks to Dad and Annie! And remember, you do have a heart--it's just in Blanding right now, as ours is in Texas. (BTW, Bethany's Dorothy costume is coming along nicely, too! And we've added shoulder pieces to your Tin Man since this picture was taken.) We love you Daddy and we can't wait to hug you again!

Happy Fall, Y'all!!!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Oh my goodness, we had such a fun Family Home Evening last night! (Although technically, we weren't home. It was a fun "Family American West Heritage Center Evening!") James, Bethany and I, along with my family, went to the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville to experience the true fall feeling. We love fall! We had a blast and we definitely recommend going! We started out with a ride in a horse-drawn wagon (a big hit with horsey-lover Bethany), shown below with James:



Next, we let Bethany and Ruby run around in the straw maze. Bethany especially loved taking handfuls of straw and throwing them all about. (I must say, Daddy and his allergies were a good sport about this.)





We then took some time to look at all of the pretty lights ("Ligh! Ligh!") and take some crazy pictures. Cute, huh?













"Are you achin', fer some bacon? You can be a big pig too, Oi!" Next we hit the corn maze, which was an a"maze"ingly good time. (Pardon the pun, just my "Gene genes" coming out.) Bethany loved it. She wanted to run ahead the entire way, pell mell. If we picked her up, she'd yell, "Down! Down!" and make her whole body go limp. So we let her run her little heart out. It was so cute--after she heard us say, "This way" and "That way" a couple of times, she picked right up on that and yelled "Way! Way!" the entire time she ran through the maze. She ran practically the whole hour or so we were in there! "Way! Way!" all the way!



Of course, we had to stop and see all of the "puh-bahs" in the area. Bethany is still a big fan of the pumpkins!



All in all, a very good time! Happy fall, y'all, from our family to yours! We wish you lots of hot chocolate, warm sweaters, fuzzy socks, pumpkin guts, crunchy leaves, crisp air, football games, crackling fires, tricks-n-treats and all of the other joys of our favorite season!

Snippity Snip Snip Snip'em--Bethie's First Haircut!

Well, Bethany has officially had her very first hair trim! Over the past several weeks, I knew it would come to this--she was looking rather scraggly and somewhat reminicent of the 80's mullet, which would never do. Luckily, we had a visit from Bethany's birth father and his family yesterday (it was SO good to see them!!!!) and Bethany's birth grandmother happens to be in the hair cutting business! So out came the scissors and whackety-whack, off came the hair. And it looks soooooo much better--like we actually groom her--so thanks so much K*! I'm sure I would have botched things completely, being completely inept with scissors. I was hoping to have a bunch of hair to send locks to everyone, but Bethany's hair is so fine, like wisps of gold, that we barely scraped enough together for her baby book (and what we do have has a few crumbs mixed in--methinks I should have swept the floor prior to the haircut). So sorry for the run-on sentence I just put you through, yikes! But Bethany looks completely beautiful and we were even able to preserve some of her darling curls. Thanks again C*, K* and J* for coming to visit yesterday! We love you!

Little Cinderella

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Today I tied Bethany's apron on (this apron was mine when I was a little tyke) to distract her from emptying out the kitchen drawer for a few minutes, and it must have inspired her. The next thing I know, she was dragging out the broom and the mop! I'm not sure that mopping the carpet was very effective, but I am sure that it was very cute. Enjoy these cute pics of "Little Cinderella," complete with pumpkin coach!

Bulletin: "Little Miss Go-Go" Terrorizes 6th Ward

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Oh my goodness. Bethany is now at the age where she is the oldest-kid-that's-not-in-nursery-yet in our ward, and church has gone from a little wrestling match to a downright three-ring circus! If we hold her in our laps, she screams, "Down! Down!" and kicks and flails. But if we put her down, she's off like a shot! And this kid is fast!!! If I let her wander around the room during the lesson, which a lot of mothers do, she immediately goes to all of the babies in the room, says, "Baby!" sweetly, smiles benevolently, and then whacks them in the head or tries to grab their eyeballs! Then she takes off, leaving a trail of crying babies in her wake. Gone are the days when I can interest her in a quiet book, or crayons, or even her favorite treats. ("Down! Down!") Suggestions, anyone? Anyway, six more weeks until nursery, but who's counting?

The thing is, when she actually goes to nursery, I'm going to miss her like crazy cakes . . .

"Intense . . .But Good!"

So, it's all done! James and I are all done teaching the education classes for adoptive applicants this year. Our last class was last Friday night and Saturday, and we tried something new this time. Instead of a six-week course, meeting every week for two hours, we tried a "weekend retreat" instead. So basically, we crammed the six-weeks of classes into Friday night and all day Saturday. To quote a comment from one of the hopeful adoptive couples, the weekend was "Intense, but good!" I thought that said it all! By about 3:00 on Saturday we all got sort of a glazed look and had to resort to drastic measures, do I dare tell? Okay, what the heck. James finally ran across the street and grabbed a case of Coke to pass around. It was the "caffeinate to educate" plan, which I am or am not officially endorsing, depending on who's reading this. I'm not generally a fan of caffine, but drastic times call for drastic measures! The couples in our class were great, thanks for hanging in there with us! And here's a big shout out "THANK YOU" to everyone who helped, whether you donated pictures or children's adoption books, lifebooks etc., or helped set up or whatever! I hope everyone finally got the right books back, honestly I was completely out of it when sorting through everyone's things. Anyway, we really appreciated your help! The pictures that were displayed were a big hit with the couples, it gave them hope! And I also really want to give a HUGE thank you to the four beautiful birth mothers who came and shared their stories with us. Hearing your experiences helps our couples so much, and we love and admire and thank you from the bottoms of our hearts! I know that Wes, Tabitha, Ty and Tiffany will do a fantastic job in teaching the classes next year!

I've Created a Monster . . .

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Okay, so I've created a monster! A pumpkin monster (see post below)! Today we went to the store to buy some more pumpkins, and when I put them on the check stand Bethany threw her very first, genuine, loud, screaming-right-in-the-middle-of-the-grocery-store tantrum! She did NOT want those pumpkins to go to the friendly neighborhood grocery store clerk, oh no she did not! She wanted those pumpkins RIGHT NOW. Yikes! And the clerk, bless his heart, took quite awhile to figure out the prices, all the while Bethany is getting louder, Louder, LOUDER!!!! But now they're home, and she's home trotting around with her little pumpkin, and all is right in the world!

Girl's Best Friend: Her Pumpkin

Move over, Fido! (Or on our case, move over Panda!) Our girl's best friend is not her dog, nor diamonds, nor anything else. Bethany has given her heart to her pumpkin! That's right. Yesterday, while visiting teaching . . .well, let me back up. I visit teach very crafty women (crafty as in good at creating beautiful crafts, not crafty as in sneaky, lest I be misunderstood) who all have these wonderful fall displays with pumpkins outside their homes. Bethany became fascinated with pumpkins during our visits. So, during our run to Wal-Mart later, we got her a pumpkin to hold while I shopped (actually a good diversionary technique!) and she LOVED it. She pet it, all the while saying "Soft, soft." (Meaning the petting was soft, not the pumpkin, I did not buy her a mushy pumpkin, I do have certain standards when it comes to the gourds in my life. But I digress.) Anyway, she kept stroking it, and kissing it over and over, and calling it her "Puh-bo." We can't wait to take her to the North Logan Pumpkin Walk, she'll go crazy! We took this picture right when we got home to try and capture the joy of the moment.

Life is Just a Bowl of Bethie . . .

Monday, October 6, 2008

Joy is found in the simple things: bowls, for instance. Have you ever pondered the many uses of a bowl? They can be chairs, hats, and a good time all around! Bethany reminds us to find the joy in little things every day!

St. George Trip

We had a great time last month on our St. George trip! This picture was taken in Snow Canyon, a beautiful place where we went on a little hike. We had a great time going to Tuachaun to see Big River and Les Miserables. James' sister, Annie, got us GREAT seats! We were on the first row for Big River, which is the story of Huckleberry Finn. We loved it so much we bought the soundtrack and have been listening to it ever since. Such great shows! Bethany loved it--when she was awake--and liked watching all of the singing and dancing. Thanks again, Annie, for giving us this great opportunity! The atmosphere was incredible! Like watching Broadway at Lake Powell!

Generations!

On our way home from St. George last month, we made a detour to go and see Bethany's great-grandparents (Higham). As her great-grandparents (Johnson) were with us as well, we couldn't resist taking a picture of Bethany with four of her great-grandparents! If only Great-Grandpa Lyman could have been there, dang it!

At Lexie's Blessing

Sunday, October 5, 2008

So, since we just got into this whole blogging thing, we have a little catching up to do! At the beginning of September, we headed down to Cedar City (and then on to St. George) to attend the blessing of our newest niece, little Lexie Lyman. It was really fun and good to finally meet her! She's a beautiful baby. This picture was taken right after we got to Bryan and Angie's house after the blessing. Bethany had had it with travelling and sitting still, and she was long overdue for a nap. So if she looks miserable and mad and like she's throwing a tantrum in the picture--well, she was all of the above. She slept for three hours right after this picture was taken!

Cousins and Friends

Last night we babysat Ruby, Bethany's cousin, and it was so much fun to watch them interact. Bethany even said, "Ruby" for the first time (it sounded like "Abby! Abby!" So cute! And Bethany would go and grab her hand and lead her down the hall. Ruby loved the attention and grinned the whole time. We hope these girls will be great friends their whole lives!

A Nephew at Last!!!!

So, Ben and Jamie had their ultra sound the other day and . . .it's a boy! Wow, a boy! After one daughter, seven nieces and even a female dog running around the place, a boy is a brand-new concept! We're so excited for this little guy to join our family in February. Way to go, Jamie and Ben! A little nephew to love and spoil. I hope Ben will teach him how to give "Ben hugs, yep yep yep yep!" Another exciting thing about this whole "boy" thing is that this will be the first great-grandson for my Grandpa and Grandma Higham (pronounced "Hi-yum" for all you readers out there unfamiliar with my maiden name) that will have the last name of "Higham." All of the other great-grandsons came from granddaughters who have married into other last names. So, the hopes of the "Higham" name being carried on now rests with this little fellow. Yay, Ben and Jamie!

Bethany--What a Kid!

So, why do we spend money on toys and hats when a Tupperware bowl will suffice for both? Bethany is so much fun. I caught her the other day, wandering around the house with my big Tupperware bowl on her head like a hat. So I grabbed my camera. Cute, huh?

Ahhhhhhh . . .Conference Weekend!

I love General Conference. What a spiritual feast we've enjoyed this weekend! This week has been kind of hard, and I was feeling down and blue and insecure about everything from the presidential election to the economy. And General Conference has just restored my soul! How grateful I am for living prophets and apostles who lead and guide us! How grateful I am for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the Holy Ghost, who comfort me! When I listen to the messages from General Conference, my heart and soul fill up with warmth and happiness! My only wish is that it lasted longer . . .

Blast from the Past!

Okay, so listen up, dudes. Like, my brother James, ya know, celebrated his 27th birthday on September 27th. Since this was his "special" birthday (27 on the 27th), his, like, totally awesome wife Tracee threw a 1980's party--since he was born in the 80's. (James, please don't throw a 1970's party for me. I just can't do the disco thing.) Anyway, the party was, like, totally knarly. We pegged our pants, poofed our hair and "partied like it was 1999" (or '89, rather). It really was a blast from the past! I hadn't done the "Utah claw" poofy bangs for many, many years--and yet the technique came back far too easily! Yikes! I thought James looked WAY attractive in his 1980's getup, though--totally Don Johnson-ish. His only regret is that he threw his parachute pants out long ago. And Bethany was, like, totally the cutest "material girl" you've ever seen! (Okay, Ruby was pretty cute too. Very Punky Brewster.) But she was bugged that I had put a pink wristband (made from a sock) on her wrist. She kept taking it off and trying to wear it like a sock! (Smart kid with obviously better fashion sense than I had in the 80's!) Anyway, like, we were in charge of the music, which was bogus and rad, since we have 1980's music coming out of our ears. James had a great time compiling his favorites. I really believe he knows every single 1980's song that ever was. At the party, we jammed to everything 80's and feasted on lots of Pop Rocks. After about two hours, I just finally yelled, "I can't have my pants pegged one more second!" and gradually morphed back into the 2008 me. How did I ever wear my pants like that every day--I mean, they were soooooooo cute! (Not!) But the party was great. Thanks, James and Tracee, for a wonderful time! Rock on, dudes!