A Visit to Salem

We had a chance to go and visit Bryan's family in Salem. The first order of business was spoiling Julia rotten. She was given a princess piano and some magnetic paper dolls. Thank you Grandma for being so nice to us!

This is Julia and her little cousin Allison. She thought it was big times because Amanda let her hold Allison and put her binky in (this is not something she gets to do alone with Audrey quite yet.) When Amanda asked Julia if she wanted to go and live at her house, Julia was more than happy to oblige.

There were four grandbabies born in the Palmer family within three months. Allison in March, Brynnlyn in April and Audrey and Scott in May. Scott is in Iowa with his parents, but we did get a picture of the three little girls.

One of the highlights for Julia was a trip to Uncle Jason's house where she was quickly transformed into a cowgirl. She is posing with her cousins Dustin and Tanner.
They had a few week old calf that Jason fed a bottle and Julia was able to pet him. I think that at one point she actually gave the baby cow a kiss. Other than the germs and bugs, how can you help yourself when they are so cute and little.
I couldn't believe that Julia actually did this. We tried to take her on a pony ride at the zoo and she freaked out. But she was more than happy to hop on this horse with Dustin and go for a ride. I was so pleased! Jason was wondering what they should name the horse. When Julia was asked she responded, "Pinky Pie!" Though a good suggestion, the horse was named Chief.


Thank you Jason for sharing all your animals with Julia and for turning her into a little cowgirl! She had such a great time.
Every cowgirl needs to finish a ride with a good popcicle. Wooooooo doggie and yeeeehawwww.

Meeks

We have finally returned home after a wonderful trip visiting family and friends. I have so much to post, so I'm going to do a bit at a time to cover all of our fun adventures while we were visiting Wyoming and Utah. Before I do anything, I want to thank all of our family for such a great vacation and for being so great to us and to our girls.

We were so lucky to have Bryan's vacation over Labor Day weekend because that is when my family goes to Meek's Cabin. It is the greatest spot with a large lodge for cooking and socializing and ten smaller cabins. My parents spoiled us rotten by letting us stay in the caretaker cabin that is like a super nice hotel room. It has two bedrooms, a kitchen and has heat. It was pure heaven with the girls. I could put the girls to bed, hook up the moniter and go and enjoy myself. We had such a great time and since it has been five years that we have been able to go, it made it all the sweeter.Here is Bryan with Julia in the lodge. She was dirty from head to toe each night, so you can imagine she had the time of her life.
There were so many fun cousins there for the girls to play with. I didn't get as many pictures of the cousins as I would have liked but I did get this shot of Audrey and little Abe. We had so much fun with the Carlile crew and we are glad that they were able to make it up for some of the time even during the tragic loss of Kristy's husband.
My dad being....well my dad. I wouldn't have him any other way. He keeps us laughing always.
Julia by the beautiful fireplace in the lodge. They have made updates since I was last able to go and the fireplace is so nice.
My sweet Audrey. She was such a good girl the entire time.
My mom with Audrey.
The FEAST. It has become tradition to make this delicious meal we refer to as "the feast." It is corn, sausage, shrimp, carrots and potatoes all boiled together in a crab boil and poured onto table cloths. No silverware or plates needed. You just dig in. It was so yummy. I definitely ate my fair share of shrimp. The crab boil gives it such a yummy flavor.
I think that a diet will be necessary for Bryan and I upon returning home. We ate until we hurt.

There is a pond near the campground that was an immediate favorite of Julia. She loves throwing rocks and feeding the fish. I must say it was also an immediate favorite of...
Bryan's as well. He loves fishing so much and I was so glad he was able to spend the entire day doing it. They have huge fish in this pond and he was also able to go to the river and fish as well.
Julia and her Uncle Adam. Adam was so sweet with her and had Julia wrapped around his finger by the end of the trip. He is going to make the best dad some day.
The play ground. I tell you, pure heaven for this child. I couldn't have picked a happier place for her.
My girls in the sweet cabin we were able to stay in. Thanks mom and dad for the best time! We loved spending time with you and being able to go back to Meeks. It has created memories to last a life time.

For Nate

Growing up as a little girl I had three cousins that were like sisters to me. My older brother affectionately referred to us as the "little craps." We were always playing princesses and "hide the scrunchy" during family parties and I was always so anxious to get to spend any time with them that I possibly could. One of these cousins was my cousin Kristy. I will always remember the girls' trip we took to Las Vegas with her and my Aunt Sue. We laughed, played and certainly had "slots of fun." (As you can see we were also into the inside jokes-Kristy really is a riot.) I remember going to Kristy's wedding and she looked so beautiful and married the nicest guy I have ever known. She has two little boys just right close to my girls that are so adorable and the spitting image of their sweet father. This past week Kristy's sweet husband Nate passed away after a long battle with an unexplained lung cancer. My heart aches for my beloved cousin. It is such a rare thing to see such a wonderful couple that compliments each other so well. It is a rare thing to meet such a wonderful person as kind, giving, funny and easy going as Nate was. I hope Kristy knows how much I love her and how much my heart aches for her as she goes through this overwhelmingly difficult time. I will never forget seeing her come out of the temple on her wedding day with this wonderful man and I am so thankful for the gospel and eternal families. This Christmas in leiu of exchanging gifts between siblings we are making donations to Kristy and her family. If you are ever near a Zion's bank they are accepting donations for an account for Nate Von Niederhausern. Also if you have any inclination for making a donation for a good cause I could think of none better than this. You can also contact me if you want to do anything.

If you are interested you can access his obituary here.

A Visit To Wyoming

So I made the journey on the airplane by myself with both girls and survived. Julia just watched a movie the majority of the time and Audrey probably slept for 3 hours of the flight. Granted Audrey screamed for probably fifteen minutes straight and Julia spilled water all over and started freaking out, I say all in all we did pretty well. Now we are just enjoying being with family and playing with cousins. Julia has played so hard that she managed to fall down the stairs, get caught in the door and smash her knee. Ironically enough when she fell down the stairs she bruised her nostril like she did a year ago when she fell out of her crib. I do believe it takes a special talent to bruise your nostril once, let alone twice. My brother Geoff and his wife Jody had little Jenna one month exactly before I had Audrey and we had to do pictures of them together. Audrey is taller and bigger than Jenna, but nobody said I didn't make them large. They are so cute and we couldn't get enough of their sweet little smiles.

It was so funny because Audrey would flail her arms as she often does and every time it hit Jenna's mouth she would start sucking on it. Audrey got a good lick every once in a while.

These are all of the Phillips Grandchildren. It is always so fun to come home and let Julia get reaquiainted with her cousins. They are so cute and fun to play with. Julia will be sleeping for days to make up for all the playing.

My good friend Kiki had this on her blog and I thought it was hilarious and I have been playing with it all day! Here is the website .

This would be Bryan and I in 1990. I think we look pretty hot. Why oh why did the big hair go out of style?
These two come from around the time my parents were in high school. It is freaky how much I look like my mom and her sisters when they had the wing glasses. Ahhhh a simpler time. You must try this website!

Wild Hair

When you have hair like this... You start to give up on headbands and you already get a ponytail.
When I asked Julia what she thought about Audrey's new hair-do she said, "Oh Audrey, that is so cute." I must say I agree, even though I have to now spend the morning fixing two heads of hair.

Summer Summer Summer Time...

One of my favorite things while I am cruising the blogs is to find great recipes that people post. I am always looking for new things and I love collecting the yummy recipes from friends. Well since it is summer time it is also berry time! I didn't go berry picking because I didn't want to have to take Audrey, so our "beautiful neighbor who brings the berries" (Kara as described by Julia) was generous to pick some for me! So I wanted to make the best use out of these delicious berries and made this YUMMY dessert. It is the perfect combination of delicious summer fruits; peaches and berries. Bryan and I seriously ate the entire pan on Sunday it was so yummy. It comes from our ward cookbook and is from the genius of Laurie Andrew and for those of you that know Laurie you know it must be a winner. For those of you that know me know that it must also be VERY easy.Fresh Peach and Cream Cheese Dessert

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/2 c. finely crushed graham crackers (about 20 sq.)
1/3 c. butter
1/3 c. sugar
Heat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients. Press into bottom of 9 by 13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minute until light brown. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Layer:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/3 c. sour cream
1 c. powdered sugar
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining ingredients; beat until thick and creamy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Spread mixture over cooled crust.

Peach Layer (or blackberry layer. I added blackberries with the peaches. It would be so yummy with raspberries as well)
6 ripe peaches
1/4 c. apricot jelly (or jelly of choice)

Heat large pot of water to boiling. Fill a large mixing bowl with water and ice. When water is boiling, put peaches in. Let peaches simmer for 3 minutes until skin peels off of peaches easily. Put peaches immediately into ice bath until chilled. Peel skin off of peaches. Slice peaches and arrange over cream cheese layer. Heat jelly in small sauce pan over medium low heat. Add a teaspoon of water to loosen the jelly, more if needed. Using a pastry brush, glaze the peaches with the jelly. (I actually didn't add the jelly glaze and it was still very good. Also if your peaches are ripe, you probably do not need to boil them. My peaches weren't ripe so boiling made it much easier to peel)

Also I finally took some pictures of what we have been doing this summer. At least two times a week have been spent at this great place...
Our pool is so wonderful. I just sit under the umbrella with Audrey and watch Julia splash in the little pool. We have had such a great time with friends and Julia loves the water. We went this week with Julia's good buddy Ethan. Both are posing with their sun bleached hair-too cute.
We also ventured over to the squirt park this week. I love watching Julia run through the fountains with a look of pure joy on her face. I could sit there and watch her all day.

Pure joy.We went with Kristi and her boys and I could not get enough of little Connor. He loves the water more than any child I have ever seen. He would crawl right through the fountains and stick his face right in them. I had to take a picture. He was hilarious.
Julia loves her buddy Zachy. What are we going to do when they move to Cincinnati? I guess we will just be making a few road trips. This is Audrey in her swimming gear. I can't get enough of those sweet smiles. She has been such a trooper as I have carted her all over the place this summer. I couldn't ask for a sweeter girl.

Hands, Roll and Laugh it up!

Look who found her hands! It's been a while but it's always a fun time when they are so fascinated with their hands and can't get enough of them. She is uncoordinatedly trying to shove them in her mouth as much as possible.
So do they look alike? I think Audrey has a look all her own, but there is definitely some similarities. Julia ADORES her sister and can even spell her name. She loves to be right in Audrey's face, but she is really sweet and gentle and I couldn't ask for more than that. She also calls her "honey" all the time. She is quite the little mother.
Audrey is also rolling over from her tummy to her back pretty consistently and laughing like crazy. You can hardly even look at her anymore without a big gummy grin. She is becoming this little person and I think this little person is pretty dang cute.

When Daddy is Away

I have now embarked upon the journey of a resident's wife and I am learning to adjust to the schedule this new journey involves. I decided to give you a glimpse into the day in the life of a resident's family while he is on call.
I pray, pray, pray the night before that Audrey sleeps pretty good and that she doesn't get up too early so I can get ready for church, get Julia ready for church and get Audrey fed and dressed. To time it all right is no easy task. I had a little panic moment at 7:50AM, thinking Audrey was not going to cooperate but she went back to sleep and we managed quite well. The trick is for me to fix my hair the night before. But I got the girls out the door and to church in time for sacrament. I will have to say if it wasn't for Sherri (LIFESAVER!) during sacrament it could have been a disaster. She distracted Julia with princess stickers while I tried to rock Audrey to sleep. I felt a complete success when Audrey was sleeping peacefully as I dropped Julia off at nursery. I then went to primary and got things ready, and of course right as it starts, Audrey awakens. So I pass her off to another lifesaver Jessica, and continue leading. I take her back during Sharing Time and try my darn hardest to get her back to sleep but without success. I again pass her off to Jessica who has to leave the room because Audrey is crying while I do singing time (seriously I don't know what I would do without such wonderful friends!) Audrey is nearly asleep by the time I'm done, but I still have senior primary to go. I pass Audrey off to Kara (yet again, thank you!) and do the opening exercises while I watch Audrey getting ready to scream. I have Laurie (hello, do you see a trend?) lead the last song for me while I run and feed Audrey, who decided to eat hardly anything. I then find Sherri in Relief Society and give her Audrey while I finish up singing time. After church I head over to get Julia but I see she is already outside with tears running down her face screaming because she was having a "tough time." So I grab a sobbing Julia and look for Sherri, who had to go outside with a screaming Audrey. I thank and thank her (seriously THANK YOU to all who helped me!!) and head out the door. I put the girls in the car and stretch my aching arms and say a little prayer of thanks that I made it through yet another Sunday on my own, and we all survived.
This is the gourmet meal that Julia and I eat when we are alone on Sundays. They cook quick and are so yummy with blueberries and strawberries piled on top with a generous squirt of Redi-whip. Julia prefers dipping in syrup and smells like it the rest of the day. So we filled up on waffles and Julia tells me she is too tired and must take a nap (40 minutes early-looks like Sundays alone don't only wear me out but Julia as well).
My sleeping babes. Audrey slept ALL DAY. I think that the church arm swap did her in.
Yes I wish there was a picture of me sleeping as well, but it didn't happen. I never know when the girls are going to wake up and it seems like just as I start falling asleep one wakes up. Also, when Bryan is on call I like to be really sleepy by the end of the day so I can just fall asleep, so no nap for me.
This is smiley Audrey waking up and stretching after her sleep and diaper change. She almost immediately went back to sleep after this so...Julia and I had Oreo's and milk and watched The Princess Diaries.
Usually Bryan is so busy this isn't possible but we were able to go and visit him at work. I am SO mad I forgot my camera, but here is little Audrey getting ready to ride. We got to Riverside and Julia played in the little house and we threw pennies in the fountain while we waited for Bryan to come down. We lived in luxury in the Riverside cafeteria as we ate Sunday dinner together. I will honestly say their hamburgers are tasty and when they're free for families they are extra tasty. Julia had pizza and Audrey looked around at the new surroundings. We then went up to see the "little tiny babies", as Julia calls them. I must say, Bryan does work in the funnest part of the hospital. As I went up there I just couldn't believe it was two months ago that I had sweet Audrey and a part of me wanted to go back to those blissful moments when she was so tiny and new. She looks twice their size now. I am just so proud that Bryan gets to bring these little lives into the world and be a part of such a happy time.
We went and met some of the nurses Bryan works with. When they asked Julia about her little sister she said, "This is little stinker Audrey." They thought that was pretty funny.
We then kissed daddy goodbye. Julia loved seeing daddy in his green shirt and pants at work where he delivers the babies. We piled in the car and listened to princess songs while Audrey slept. I must say driving home, listening to Julia's sweet little high pitched voice singing songs from Beauty and the Beast, was a nice moment. I do feel so blessed to have such sweet little girls.We then came home and got ready for bed. Here is Audrey practicing "tummy time" and Julia doing the same. I wish that the nights sleep was better but Audrey woke up more than usual and I was up with terrible allergies but as you can see...
We survived! Now we get a whole week before the next call. Hopefully Bryan can get lots of R and R. The life of a resident's wife can certainly be lonely at times, but we are doing great and have so many great friends that make it easier. We are so proud of Bryan and all the hard work that he does. And though we wish he were home more, it makes the times that he's home even better. And it DEFINITELY makes me appreciate the Sundays that he is willing to take Audrey and help me with my calling.

You Can Never Get Sick of a Good TAG

My sis in law Aimei tagged me and since I am spending ALOT of time at home with sleeping children I thought I would do this instead of more important things I ought to be doing like cleaning.

Four things I like/love about Bryan:

1)He doesn't take himself too seriously. By doing so, he makes me laugh constantly and I need a LOT of laughter in my life.

2)He is always willing to help others, even if it is an inconvenience. This is something I strive daily to work on that is a very natural thing for him.

3)He helps me around the house and with the kids. I feel guilty all the time because he is downstairs folding laundry or sweeping the floor. Even after a 14 hour work day he still helps me with the girls and with all the stuff that needs to be done at the house because I spent my day doing things like blogging this tag rather than cleaning. It's a good thing he loves me anyways.

4) He never ever complains about my cooking, weight or my appearance when he comes home. I don't think he has ever not eaten something I've made, even if I know he doesn't really like it. It took three years of marriage for me to find out that he doesn't like sandwiches. He also never complains that I'm flabby after having a baby and if he comes home and I'm in sweats or don't have make up on. I make a much bigger deal about my appearance than he ever has.

Four Jobs that I’ve had:

Bagger at IGA (that was awesome, let me tell you)
Secretary at my dad's law office
2nd grade teacher at Copperview Elementary
Preschool teacher at Children's World

(My Favorite Four)
Ummmm...I've only had four jobs (Is that sad?). But my very very favorite was teaching 2nd grade. I cried on the last day of school. The kids thought I had lost it completely. I was urging them to go to college between sobs. They just gave me blank stares.

Four TV Shows that I watch

The Office
So You Think You Can Dance
American Idol
Without a Trace

Four Places I have been

Australia
Hawaii
Costa Rica
California (exotic I know, but I ran out of exotic ones)

Four people who email me regularly

Hilward (group emails)
Facebook
High school friends
junk

Four of my favorite foods

Seafood (I've been obsessed since I had Audrey and can eat it again)
Mexican (I enjoy a good fajita)
Cottage Cheese with Wheatables or fruit (random you say?)
Italian (pasta pasta and more pasta)

Four Places I’d like to visit (yeah, in like twenty eight years when we finally make money)
England
Italy
France
Greece

Four things I’m looking forward to in the next year
Losing the baby weight and getting back to my formal self
Watching the every day changes that happen in my girls and happen too fast
Visiting family
Those precious three week vacations and four days at Christmas/New Years that Bryan gets off


Four People that I tag
Are there any of you out there that have too much time on your hands like me!?
I suppose I will tag...
Talea (since we are new blogging buddies)
Jessica (because you are the most on top of it blogger I know)
Heather Teeples (Because you are the most upbeat person I know)
Rachel Gillette (Because you are a slacker blogger and you just had a cute new baby!)