Bring it on!

Today I started two new "projects."

First, I started teaching my very first college course, Managerial Accounting. I'm really excited to share the knowledge that I've acquired from my education and experience with the business students at SUU. It's already been a positive experience.

I have really enjoyed setting up my course the past few weeks. I had my first lecture today and I know I have some work ahead of me to become a better lecturer, but considering it was my very first lecture, I feel like it went well.

The other "project" that I'm starting is a lifestyle change. I only call it that because a "diet" has such a negative connotation. That and the principles that I am now following are the way I should be living all the time, so I am calling it a change in my lifestyle. There are some ladies in my social community that are following the same plan, and have made it into a competition. It helps me stay motivated when my actions affect others (my team). I completed the first round between Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was HARD with all the Christmas parties and goodies all around. This time should be easier and I feel I'll have more motivation. Last night I just felt like crap because of the way I ate after Christmas when the competition was over, and I'm so ready to detox my body and start feeling more energetic. I definitely need more energy to help educate my students!!

This week my goal is to be positive about waking up at 5AM to exercise. I know if I complain and have negative feelings about waking up so early, then I won't do it. So, YIPPEE!! I get to wake up and exercise so I can have more energy and not die young!!

Who ever heard of CSAs?

I learned a new term today. Something I'd never heard of and certainly never thought was offered in Cedar City, Utah. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The idea is that families and individuals in a community become "members" of a local farm and enjoy their "share" organic produce grown by the farm. CSAs are set up differently by each farm, but the idea really speaks to me. I pay the farm to become a member of the CSA, and each week, I can pick up a basket of freshly picked organic produce. By becoming a member, I am not only feeding my family the freshest, most healthy food that I can, but also I am supporting my local community by putting my money into local business.

Not that becoming a member of a CSA is without risk. I, by agreeing to become a member, also agree to bear my share of the risks associated with the farm. If the farm is unable to produce a large crop of food because of weather or other unforseen risks, then I won't be bringing home as much food as I planned.

Today I found a CSA currently operating in Cedar City. They are called Red Acre Farm, and are located not too far from my home in Enoch. After talking with my husband about it, we decided to try it out, so I just finished paying for my "Spring share." Only time will tell if the excitement I'm currently feeling is justified. For more information about Red Acre Farm and thier CSA, their website is: http://www.redacrefarmcsa.org/

Has anyone reading this been a member/shareholder of a CSA? What did you like/not like about it?

Oh, BOY!

We went in this afternoon to get our 20 week ultrasound at the hospital. The baby was quite wiggly, and not facing in an optimal direction, but we still got some good pictures:

Profile picture

3-D picture

Another profile picture
And, after two girls, we found out today that we are expecting a boy! We're really excited and will be needing lots of boy stuff since most everything we own is in some type of shade of pink...lol. The girls are excited to have a baby brother.

Catching up

Man, this semester has been rough. I took two courses that were a lot more demanding than my courses have been in the past. In addition, at work my student assistant left in May, which caused me to get behind all summer long, then when I found out I got a job in another department at SUU, then I was scrambling (often staying late and through lunch) to catch up before I left. Then I was learning my new job for two months before they moved me to yet another new (and higher paying) job. So it's been crazy at work, too. Also I was talking with recruiters from CPA firms which took up more time. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am happy to be moving on from this semester, and now I can finally breath enough to attempt catching up on my blog.... :)


Cambrie was able to participate in AYSO soccer league this August and September. She had such a great time learning how to play and just having fun running around on the field. Her team had green jerseys and named themselves "The Tinkerbells." They never kept score, so we don'g know who the "best" team actually was, but the feeling is that if they had fun, then they were all the best. Here she is on her last game of the season:
She was so excited to get her trophy:

I turned 28 at the end of September this year. I was completely spoiled. Andy got me way too much stuff!! Cambrie got me a bag of Candy Corns, and I think she was more excited about it than I was (and I love candy corns):
Halloween was fun this year. We had lots of fun parties and events. We went to the annual "Spooktacular" at the girls school on Friday night, and Calina took off without us noticing. Andy found her looking in each classroom, all around the school, until she found her very favorite teacher, "Je-ca" (Jessica). It was really cute. In the mornings she always wants me to put our little lady bug barrets in her hair so she can show "Je-ca bugs."

On Halloween, we took the girls to the trunk or treat in my parent's neighborhood where we get to eat some yummy soups and chili's and the kids have a parade and get lots and lots of candy. Grandma Jan (my mom's mom) was there, and it was a lot of fun to see her. My sister, Nichole and her family were there (Cambrie loves her cousin Alex), and Colby and Jessica brough their new baby, Lucas. Calina was a lion and Cambrie was a "Princess Bride."

We would say, "Calina, what does a lion say?" and then she would say, "Raaaaahhrrrr," along with a little growl. She didn't do it really great in this movie, but I thought it was cute, nonetheless.

November was kind of a blur. We did have a little birthday party for my mom at our house. Can you believe she is 50!! I can't. I still think she looks too young to be 50. Of course Papa ate with the kids at the kids table on the floor.....silly Papa. But those grandkids sure love their papa, and I think the feeling is mutual.
Calina just woke up from her nap, so off I go. I'll have to add the Thanksgiving pictures later.

Busy Bees

I just realized that my last blog post was a month and a half ago. Here are some things that we've been up to:


Cambrie has been enjoying playing on a soccer team. Her team has green jerseys and is named "The Tinkerbells." They are a pretty good team, but the coaches don't really emphasize winning, so I have no idea how many games they have actually won. The last game, Cambrie got a hold of the ball and kicked it down the field! However, she wasn't really watching where she was going and missed the goal...darn it! But still way cute! Cambrie is a very curious and thoughtful little girl. She is always asking, "why?" (seemingly endlessly) and making connections about the world she lives in. Her conclusions are always very logical, even if they aren't completely correct. It's fascinating having a four year old to learn from!


Calina has been growing her vocabulary by leaps and bounds! She says new things every day and is becoming quite the communicator! Even people outside of the family are beginning to understand her, so it's really fun to hear the progress. Her latest accomplishment is to put two words together like "want drink."

We went on a camping trip over Labor Day weekend up to the canyon near Fairview. Almost the whole Crosby clan was there. We missed you, Cherish and Sunny!! We had a great time riding ATVs, cooking some YUMMY dutch oven food, and playing in the "forts" around camp. Cambrie and her cousin Kelsi were practically joined at the hip! They spent nearly every waking hour together. They sure had fun! Cambrie just loves spending time with Kelsi! Calina loved riding the four-wheelers and watching the dogs. She also seems to have developed an attachment to Phil (Cari's husband), because she was always looking for Phil and just loved to spend time with him!!


The next weekend, we spent some time on Sand Hollow with my parents and their beautiful boat. The girls LOVED playing with "Papa" and "Noni" in the water, and I got up on the wake board!! We stayed in a nice hotel room in St. George, and had a really lovely mini vacation! Thanks mom and dad! We had a great time!


Last week, we travelled up to Park City to be with Andy at a Utah Bankers Conference. We got to relax during the day while he was in meetings, and then we met up to do some shopping and eat dinner together. We got back on Friday to (finally) enjoy a quite weekend at home. Well, not really SOO quiet since we have TONS of yard work to do before the snow starts coming down.


Yesterday I started my first day at a new job! I'm still working at SUU, but have moved to the Controller's Office. I am the new Accountant I at the Controllers Office, and I am in charge of managing the cash accounts and putting together the monthly Auxiliary Reports. The last few weeks at SCPS kept me extremely busy! I worked late on a number of nights just to try to get caught up before I left. I will miss all my work buddies at SCPS, but I am excited to be doing something new and learning more about the accounting system at the University.


Andy's been busy working on the yard. Now that his eye is healing from his second eye surgery, he can be outside more. He has been taking advantage of the cooler (but not too cool) weather by trying to get our front yard finished. YAY!

Calina is 18 months!

Time will pass you by if you blink your eyes. It is really crazy to me that Calina (also known as "Muffin") is 18 months old today! She has become such an integral part of our family, and is growing up so fast!! Here are her stats from the doctor's visit:

Weight: 24 lbs-even, 50th percentile
Height: 32.5 inches, 75th percentile
Head: 48 cm, 90th percentile

The doctor said she is growing very well and is on a very consistent growth curve, with a big head to accomodate all her brains. :) She checked out as very healthy and right on track developmentally. Here are a few things that Calina is up to:

Calina adds many new words to her vocabulary each and every day. Although it is still hard for anyone outside of her family to understand her, she is learning SOO much every day, it's amazing to watch her. Her one-year old molars have been working their way up this past month, so things have been a little more challenging. Other forms of communication include the word, "NO!" which she loves to use, and nodding her head yes. It's so cute, sometimes I ask her if her diaper is yucky and needs to be changed and she'll start nodding her head, and then we will walk into her room and she'll lay down and let me change her. Other times she comes up to me and points to her diaper and says, "deh-der" which means, "Mom, will you please change my diaper." So I'll ask her, "Do you want me to change your diaper?" And then I get the nod.

Calina's independence is blossoming, too. She is getting to that age where she doesn't want to hold still and if I try to hold her, she wiggles and fights until I put her down. Then, she's off like a shot, getting into anything and everything she can. Tantrums are becoming more frequent these days. Cambrie was the same way at 18 months, and by the time she was two, the phase had pretty much passed. I'm hoping the same is true with Calina.

Sometimes Cambrie is a little much to take for all of us (especially when she becomes "Crazy Cambrie"). Most of the time, Calina loves playing with her sister, and being crazy right along with her, but every once in a while, she just gets fed up with her. At this point, Calina likes to yell out, "MAN-EEE!" And occasionally will growl or say "NO!" to let Cambrie know that she means business. It's really pretty cute, and it is always a struggle for Andy and I to keep a straight face.

We went to a really fun BBQ for Andy's brother's (Danny) wedding at his parents house in Springville. The whole time, Calina was wandering around waving and smiling at everyone she met. She was quite the social butterfly, not wanting to hold still for a moment's time. She sure wore her mommy out!!

Calina LOVES animals, but only from a distance. Dogs are among her favorite, but at times she gets scared of them if they come too close. She still loves to watch them for hours on end and loves to go up to them as long as they don't seem too wild and someone is holding her.

One of Calina's favorite things is babies. She is SOOOO cute with her little baby doll. She rocks it, hugs it, kisses it, and feeds it for hours! Real life babies are even better! She points at every baby she sees (and even some older kids), and says, "bay-bee." Last night we went to a party at the park for State Bank employees, and one of Andy's coworkers had an 8 month old little boy. Calina wouldn't leave the poor kid alone. She was constantly petting his head, and giving him hugs. It was so cute!

We just love Calina and her sweet personality. She makes us smile every day. Happy 18 months, Muffin!! We love you!

The Crosby's went Camping!

I don't have the pictures downloaded yet from our trip, but I wanted to update the blog anyway. Last weekend, for Pioneer Day, we went camping up at Tropic Reservoir. We had never been to this particular location before, and now we are wondering why! It was a really pretty little lake set up in the evergreens near Bryce Canyon, and it was so much fun! We had a wonderful time riding our ATV, fishing in the lake, going on hikes, and just hanging out at our beautiful camp spot enjoying nature.

The trip started out a little bit rocky because when we first pulled up into the campground, there was only one spot left, and it was the first spot as you drove into the campground. They allowed ATVs in the campground, so we weren't excited to be the entrance/exit point for all the ATVs as they passed by. The campground host was kind enough to let us know who was packing up and leaving that morning, so we could wait and get a better spot. So that's what we did.

When we first pulled up, Cambrie got a Hawaiian punch out of the cooler and decided after two sips that she was done (I'm sure this has never happened to anyone else ever before...). Calina was begging for a drink, so we put some of the Hawaiian Punch in her sippy cup and let her have it. She quickly drank the contents and wanted more, so I put more in it.... I guess I wasn't carefully monitoring the amount of sugar she was taking in, because shortly after she threw up Hawaiian punch all over herself and Andy.... Lovely red stains all over her shirt...

After we had the tent set up and before we had fully unpacked, Cambrie started screaming bloody murder and running around shaking her hand. Now, it's not uncommon for Cambrie to overreact to anything really, but the caliber of this particular scream let us know that something has happened. In this case, it was a bee. Cambrie got stung by a bee. I've only been stung once, myself, and it was when I was 12, and although I remember the pain I felt was intense for a while, it seems like it quickly dissipated. Cambrie, however, continued to cry and SCREAM for over an hour after "the incident." She finally let me pull out the little stinger, but for the rest of the day, she had a hard time even getting out of her chair and walking on the ground for fear that one of those tiny ants would come and sting her....

Ah, memories. Luckily besides the two incidents mentioned above, the rest of the trip was fabulous. We cooked us up some Dutch oven ribs and potatoes (YUM!), and relaxed and went on ATV rides and had a truly fabulous time!

There were SOOO many ATV trails at this place. We didn't have nearly enough time to explore them, but we are hoping to go back there to go on some more rides.

On Saturday morning, Cambrie and Calina and I went on a hike through a trail right out of our campground. It was a nice little hike (little being the key word), and we turned back before we were finished, but we had a good time, anyway. And Andy got to take a little nap at a quiet campground, so that was good.

The lake was VERY clear and really pretty! Andy went fishing a few times, and caught a total of 8 fish from the lake. Cambrie was with him when he caught another one and got help him reel it in. He let that one go, and Cambrie was sad about that. She came back all excited and said, "Mom! We caught a fish in the ocean (she still can't distinguish between oceans and lakes, so any fairly large body of water is called an ocean)!" Her tone then changed to a disappointed, "but then, daddy accidentally let it go." We were all in Andy's little bass boat when he caught one on the last day we were there. He kept it, and put it in a little compartment in the boat that holds water. Calina was LOVING the fish. She kept that little compartment open the rest of the time. She would point at it and say, "ish, ish!!" Lunch the next day at home was fabulous! Thanks And!!

After we got back from our final fishing trip, we went on a couple more short ATV rides. I took Calina first and all she said the whole time, was "WEEEEEEE! WEEEEEEE!" It was so cute that she was so excited. I tried to take her off on a more rocky trail and she didn't really like that so much, so I turned back and got on the gromed trail. We cooked up some tin foil dinners while we started packing up. After all our stuff was put away in the car and on the trailer, we hit the road, and got back around 8:30 ish Saturday night. The girls were exhausted! Well, maybe they weren't the only ones. ;)

Deloitte.

I returned from my externship with Deloitte last Friday. I had a really great time and learned a lot about public accounting life and particularly what it's like to work for Deloitte. We started out our externship with a fun little get-to-know-you bingo game with all the other externs at the event. Then we had a little scavenger hunt around the office so we could get to know the office surroundings and get some bearings. After the scavenger hunt, we had a couple of the professionals from the office come and talk to us about what they call "Drop and Count." It was really interesting. Basically it is an audit procedure for a casino where you observe how they account for all the cash at the slots and gaming tables. We learned a little about all the crazy internal controls surrounding the cash and how it would be pretty impossible to take off with the money. It is true that Oceans 11 is just a movie. After the presentation, we went out to lunch at a place called Grand Lux Cafe. It is a sister store of the Cheesecake Factory. The one we went to was in the Palazzo. It was a really nice place and I think the Grand in Grand Lux Cafe was because of the portion sizes. Holy cow! I ordered the lunch portions and they brought me so much food that I could only eat half of my meal and I was completely stuffed!! But it was really yummy.

After lunch was over, all the externs were put in groups of two and each group got to visit a client site to see the work being done at the engagements. I had the opportunity to visit the corporate headquarters of Harrahs which is incidentally in Caesar's Palace. Apparently, the corporate headquarters just moved to Vegas from Memphis, so the Memphis Deloitte office is in the process of transitioning the client and all the work over to the Vegas Deloitte office. We got to look around the casino a little, go over some audit work papers, and meet with the on site audit manager. It was really good for me to see what the auditors actually do and get to talk with some of the staff on the engagement.

After we were brought back to the office around 5:00, we got ready and drove out to Summerlin where the head partner of audit lives. We had a lovely dinner in his back yard with some of the partners and senior managers of the office. The food was out of this world. AMAZING sushi, hors d'oeuvres, chicken marsala, fish, and beef. It was interesting to get to see the partners as "people" rather than high and mighty and unapproachable.

After the dinner was over, we drove back and checked into our hotel. We stayed at The Platinum which is just off the strip on Flamingo, about 2 minutes from the Deloitte office. It was SOOOO nice! It was a one-bedroom suite with a full kitchen and a HUGE bathroom. I swear, the bathroom was almost as big as the bedroom. All cars are parked with a valet service, which was nice, but kind of annoying when you're only there for a few minutes, and they go park your vehicle and have to just go get it back a little while later. It was really nice to not have to walk through a casino to get to the room and I had a nice balcony just off the living room. I was REALLY impressed. Very nice room!!

Here is a picture of the kitchen, nicer than my kitchen at home, even though it's a little smaller.

Here is the floor plan.

The next morning, we got to take an inventory count. I guess it's really common to go on engagements to take inventory counts in your first year in public accounting. Next, we heard from the tax side of the office. They helped us fill out a simple 1120 (it's like the 1040 for a corporation). After we were finished with that, we ate lunch at Maggiano's, a family style Italian restaurant. The food was fabulous. I tried the calamari and it was really good! Very pricey place, though. It looked like it was $23 per person!After a delicious lunch, we got to "audit cash." We got to see the work papers we need and learn about the procedures. The example we used I realize was simple, but I thought it was really fun and easy. After we were finished auditing cash, we went out to Red Rock Casino Resort and went bowling. It was a really fun activity, even though I'm bowling challenged. I got to visit with the professionals in a more casual and relaxed atmosphere and have some fun. Although by this point in the trip, I was missing my family very much!!After bowling, we headed on up the freeway to go home. Some of the externs had the opportunity to stay an additional day to participate in the Deloitte Impact Day where everyone in the office has a chance to get out and do some service in the community. It sounded like it was a fun day, but I needed to get back to my class and my job, so we came home, and boy was it good to get home!!

The two days I spent in Las Vegas with Deloitte has really made me start thinking about my career path. I have a lot of decisions to make, but I'm really glad I had the opportunity to go down so I can make more informed decisions.

General Updates

This entry is just a general update of the family and not too exciting. Mostly I just wanted to get this all down for posterity. :)

I officially started classes again this Tuesday (Monday was Memorial Day). The work load is rough as I am reading about a chapter every other day plus extra reading assignments, quizzes, and cases. I will also have three exams during the next five weeks. The work load is fairly intense, but the subject matter is interesting, so it helps the work not seem too grueling. I have to apologize to my family, and especially my AMAZING husband who will have to bear more of my home duties, in addition to his own work and yard maintenance. How did I luck out to get such an awesome partner!?!

I am looking forward to participating in an externship at Deloitte next week. The two days I am in Las Vegas will help me see what it is like to work in an accounting firm and help me meet a bunch of people who work down in Deloitte's Vegas office. I'm very excited for the opportunity.

My accounting assistant here at SUU (student) graduated with his Bachelor's degree this spring and took a job up at the Tax Commission in Salt Lake. While I am really happy for his career to be progressing, I am nervous about the increased work load. My department is not replacing him due to budget cuts. It's going to be really busy this summer because summer is the busiest time for conferences and events on campus as well as in the accounting department with the end of year closing and new year budgets.

Enough about me, though. Andy is working hard at his job as well as working VERY hard to put in a front yard at our house. He has got a garden set up and waters it frequently. He has dug trenches all over our half acre to move the water to the back so we can landscape the front, he has been leveling out our back yard with the Bobcat we borrowed from my dad and grandpa, and it seems like each new project creates more projects... Hopefully we can get a front yard by the end of the summer.

Cambrie is learning more and more about reading and letters. She knows her letters VERY well and the sounds that go with each. She is starting to sound out words and spells words for me to interpret all the time.

Cambrie, over the last month or two, has been going through some behavior problems at school (preschool/daycare). She is good most weeks, but occasionally is acting VERY defiant and ignoring the direction of her teachers. Unfortunately, this behavior is sometimes exhibited at home as well. I know she is a very independent person and always has been, and I've tried to parent her with this consideration in mind, but lately it seems my tactics are not working. There is a girl at her school who is her friend and I can't help but speculate that some of the behaviors she is exhibiting are learned from this particular girl. If anyone has any tricks or references for parenting "spirited and independent" preschoolers, any advice would be welcome. :)

Calina is talking more and more every day. I understand most of what she says, but she's not to the point where anyone could understand her. She repeats most of the words I tell her, and I think she is doing very well for her age (I'm not biased at all). Calina's independence is blossoming as well. There are times she does NOT want to take her vitamins, to brush her teeth, or to get her diaper changed, but nothing that isn't age appropriate. She is a sweet little girl and has recently learned to give us kisses....it just melts your heart!!

Over and out from the Crosby's.

Gone Fishin'

Last weekend, Andy and I got ourselves out of the city and into the mountains for the first time this spring. We went up the canyon by Paragonah and went fishing at Red Creek Reservoir (Paragonah Reservoir). It was so fun to breath the fresh mountain air and witness nature in all it's springtime beauty. We took up some food and had a picnic dinner at the side of the lake. Although it did try to rain on us, the rain quickly turned to sun and Cambrie, Calina, and I went on a walk up by the stream that feeds the reservoir. This stream happens to be where the resident rainbow trout spawn. We probably saw 500 fish in the stream. Cambrie and Calina were both tickled to death that they could see all these fish and hear them splashing in the stream. We had fun "sneaking" up on the fish so we could get a better look, and then when we would make noise, we would see them swim off in a flash. The little walk we went on was BEAUTIFUL and very fun. There are restrictions on fishing in the stream, in order to protect the spawning trout, so Andy stayed on the lake in his bass fishing boat. He got in a few hours of fishing and got a lot of bites, but no fish. Still, the outing was worthwhile. Pictures to come when I have a minute to download them. :)

Check this out

I found this awesome giveaway on a hair blog. She is giving away a nice flat iron:

http://hairandshare.blogspot.com/2009/05/flat-iron-giveaway.html

Who doesn't love free stuff? The giveaway goes through May 31. :)

Crazy Stuff!

My Grandma sent this video to me. I only wish I could do some of the stuff these ladies can!

Calina update: Little talker

This morning when I was getting the food together to take to work, Calina spotted some mangos on the counter. She was wanting them pretty badly. She spit out her binki and was reaching for them. I picked one of them up and told her, "It's a mango." Carefull to say the word mango slowly and clearly. She said back to me "Mano." It didn't sound perfect, but in her little baby talk she is sounded it out enough for me to understand what she said. Lately, it seems Calina learns how to say a few new words each week. Here are a few things that she can say:

dog (dah or dah-de for doggie)
jacket (daa-det)
drink (dee)
more (moo)
cat (dat)
That (dats)
pappa (pa-pa)
momma (ma-ma)
daddy (da-de)
Cambrie (na-na)...don't know why, but every time she sees a picture of Cambrie, she says na-na
eye (ah)
ear (ee)
mouth (mah)
nose (no)
diaper (da da)
Hi (hi)

I'm sure there's more, but those are the ones she uses every day. It's bittersweet seeing her grow up. I'm excited that she's doing well and talking, but also sad my little baby's growing up.

Cambrie update: I can read

While I was fixing Cambrie's hair this morning, she was studying the light switch. The following conversation took place:

Cambrie: Mom, I can read.
Mom: Oh, really?
Cambrie: Yeah, right here says "no" N - O
Mom: (pretty perplexed) where?
Cambrie: Right here (pointing to the light switch)
Mom: Oh, that's very good Cambrie! But it actually spells "on" O - N

So, Cambrie just read her first word, kind of! I talked to her a little bit about reading from left to right, but she actually saw the letters and sounded them out and figured out what it means...kind of crazy!!

Catching up

I've never been good at journaling, so I'm glad I have this blog to keep up on the happenings of our family. That said, I haven't been all that great at keeping the blog up, either!! So, there is quite a bit I just posted trying to catch up on things. I'm hoping I'll have more time in May when I don't have classes going on!

Easter

We had a really great Easter. On Saturday we headed over to the Enoch City offices for the city easter egg hunt. After hearing about the hunt in Cedar City, I was glad we made the choice to stay in Enoch. I wouldn't say it was calm and nice, but it wasn't crazy like the Cedar City one. Calina and Cambrie were both able to get a few eggs, so they were really happy, and for the most part, the kids were able to find the eggs on their own and we didn't have a lot of pushy parents.

The girls woke up early on Sunday morning to find that the Easter bunny had come to our house. Then we got ready for church to learn more about the true meaning of Easter. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of everyone in their fancy shmancy easter attire. After church, we went to my folks house for another easter egg hunt and a yummy easter lunch/dinner.

Cambrie found her Easter basket!!

Calina dumped her basket out, but here it is after mom and dad helped her put it back together!
Calina loved the toy turtle the Easter bunny put in her basket.

Calina and Cambrie on another egg hunt in "the park" at my parent's house.

Cambrie is happy she found an egg!

Birthday Girl

Last week Cambrie turned 4!! I can't believe how fast she grows and how quickly she is learning about everything. For her birthday, we got a cupcake princess cake from Wal-mart and brought it to her school to share with all of her friends. She was so tickled to carefully hand out one cupcake to each kid in the class. We also got some easter eggs filled with treats for her friends as favors (she picked them out).

After her birthday festivities at school, I took the rest of the afternoon off of work and we went home and got the house ready for the family to come over for a birthday bash. The party turned out really fun. We ate some pizza, opened presents, played in the cul-de-sac, and ate some yummy cake.

Here is Cambrie with her presents.

Cambrie's birthday present was a princess bike. Andy set up this neat little treasure hunt for Cambrie to find her bike. She opened up a box with a picture in it, she went to that location and found another picture. Here is a video I started taking part way through.

After she found her bike, we all went out into our cul-de-sac and played with our outside toys. The kids had an absoloute blast. The weather was just perfect and we all had a great time watching them have fun!

Here is Calina hanging out with Grandma Vicki

Alex, Cambrie and Calina having a ride in the wagon. Gotta love those baby rolls!!

Alex pulling Calina in the wagon

Grandma Vicki did the most waggon pulling. The babies loved it when she went FAST!

Calina would just laugh and laugh when Grandma pulled her FAST. This is a video Andy took of her having a great ol' time.

Cambrie and Calina

When I first found out that Calina was a girl, I was admittedly a little bit dissapointed. I was SURE I was going to have a boy. However, in retrospect, I think Heavenly Father knew that we needed a girl and that we needed Calina. I have since found out how FABULOUS it is to have two girls (somewhat) close together. Cambrie and Calina are such good friends (most of the time). I can see how in the future, they are going to be such good friends. It makes me really happy. A couple of weeks ago, Calina was drinking her bottle, and wanted for some reason to be close to Cambrie. She climbed up on the couch and was at first bugging Cambrie, but then Cambrie realized she just wanted to sit by her, so they sat together reading Cambrie's Tag book. Really cute moment.

At the Park

When we transfered Zoe to Bonnie and Kirk, we met them in Filmore to make the exchange. Cambrie and Calina had a lot of fun playing on the playground at the Mavrick in Filmore.

Cambrie having fun

One of those RARE shots of Calina where she is:

a. smiling and

b. holding still enough that the shot isn't blury.

Calina was having fun walking around in her shoes. This is the first time she has been able to walk around on an uneven surface with shoes on her own. We don't have grass, only dirt, so she had a blast walking between the grass and the gravel.

Cambrie looking back as she's climbing the equipment. What a good sport to pose for a picture. :)

Bye Bye Zoe

After realizing that we aren't taking care of Zoe as we should be, Andy decided she needed to find another home. Our good friends the Poulsens expressed an interest in taking her should we ever want to get rid of her, so we asked Bonnie if she was still interested. She was, so Zoe went to live with Bonnie and Kirk. While we were all sad to see Zoe go (especially Calina), it was very comforting that she was going to such a great home. She has been with the Poulsens for a little over a month now, and is loving living with them in their house and playing in their fenced yard. She is getting so much more love and attention and is learning so much! It really is such a relief to have her enjoying her life so much more! Here are a few pictures of Zoe just before she left:

Kirk gripping the leash (probably thinking, what on earth did we get ourselves in to). Zoe is one strong pup!!

Living Dead Girl

Cambrie just LOVES to pretend. She can tell ellaborate stories and we can play "mommy and kid" (I'm the kid) for HOURS without her getting sick of it (usually it's me that can't take any more). :) So, last night Cambrie was laying on the floor pretending that she was dead. She just layed there with her eyes closed so peaceful. I, on the other hand, was in kind of a rush trying to pick up my living room because the releif society president was coming to my house. She was going to be there any minute, and I needed Cambrie to help me pick up her toys. So, after several times of asking nicely for Cambrie to get up and help me pick up the living room, she said to me, "Mommy, I'm dead. Dead people CAN'T walk!!" So, I said, "Okay dead girl, you need to start coming back to life." She sat there for a minute, still dead, and I reminded her, "Cambrie it's time to come back to life." She slowly started to raise her arms to start getting up, and said, "Look mom!! Jesus is helping me!!"

Viva Las Vegas

Over Spring Break, Andy had a conference in Las Vegas, so we packed up and went along with him! The weather was just fabulous (70's and 80's), and the girls and I got in some good R&R and swimming time while Andy was away during the day.

Cambrie and Calina at the M&M Factory

Cambrie posing in front of the Excalibur castle.
Us at New York New York. Calina wasn't wanting to look at the camera.
Watching the fish at Ceasars Palace. We were waiting for our table at the Cheesecake Factory. Calina was obviously a lot more interested in those fish than she was in the camera.
Still waiting for our table, we took a look at F.A.O. Schwarz

At night it was kind of hecktic and made me realize that Vegas is not much fun when you have two little kids to carry everywhere. Trying to navigate busy streets and all the endless walking is very tiresome for little ones! Cambrie enjoyed seeing some of the sights on the strip, but it took us hours to eat dinner each night by the time we parked and walked a couple miles, decided on a place, got in our reservation, ordered, ate, paid for the food, etc. One of the last nights we were there, we decided to heck with the strip, and ate dinner at an Olive Garden off the strip. It was the best, most relaxing dinner we had while we were there!! So, I don't think we'll be bringing the kids along the next time we go to Vegas...

Our room, however, was a dream!! We stayed at Summer Bay Resort which is a gated/manned time share resort just behind Harrahs (where Andy had his conference). The room was a one bedroom suite with a fully functioning kitchen and laundry room. The bedroom had a big walk in closet with a bench where Calina slept in her pack n' play. It was perfect! The quietest, darkest room in the place for the lightest sleeper!! Cambrie slept on our bed in the bedroom while we still wanted to be awake, and then we moved her to the couch bed when we were ready to go to sleep. During the day, I was able to read, or watch a movie or take a nap while the girls napped. As I mentioned before, we had a good time during the day just hanging out (at the pool or in our room) and relaxing!!

Here is Cambrie hanging out in our room:

This is a picture of one of the pools at the resort. We went swimming three times in the four days we were there. It was fabulous!

This is an old picture I found of the resort on the internet. It has since been rennovated, but it gives you an idea of how close it is to the strip. I walked with Cambrie and Calina to meet Andy one day for lunch and with Cambrie walking on her own and me pushing Calina in the stroller, it only took us about 7 minutes to get to Harrahs. Probably another 5 to get to the front of the casino....proabably only about a 10 minute walk from the strip if you don't have two kids!

Zions

One of my bestest friends came to visit me last weekend. It was so much fun to visit with Jasmine her and her cute little girl, Maili. Cambrie and Maili played hard all weekend, and were sad to say goodbye when it was time for Maili to leave. Jasmine's parents, Kirk and Bonnie came down too and they stayed with my parents. On Saturday, we heard it was supposed to be like 70 degrees in St. George, so we went on a little river hike in Zions. It was really fun to get out, although the sun didn't come out as much as I would have liked, and the wind was blowing at times.

Here is a picture of Bonnie, me, and Calina while we stopped at the river to throw rocks and sticks in....we're easily entertained, I know! :) Calina was smiling at Jasmine who was just to the side of my mom who was taking the picture.

Cambrie cheezing it for the picture. She was getting ready to throw that stick in the water. I think she must have been squinting in the sun or something...Calina just LOVED Kirk this visit. She was frequently reaching out for him to hold her. I think she's the first "Meier" child to not be scared of the guy. It is definitely a long time coming, because he is such a nice guy!
My mom and I on the hike. Andy kept sneaking up behind us with Calina....silly Andy.
Jasmine (and her cute baby bump) and Bonnie stopped to have a mother/daughter picture. Our family on the hike.
Cambrie and Maili had SOOO much fun on this hike! They were having "horsie" races with their grandpas being the horses (and their hair being the reigns). They were just LAUGHING and LAUGHING as they were bouncing up and down along the trail. I think they thoroughly exhausted their grandpas!!! Andy helped Cambrie climb up this rock wall near the visitors center. She was pretty stoked that she ws so high!
Maili wanted to join in the fun too. Kirk and Bonnie made sure that she was securly held while she was up there! Way to go guys...make us look like bad parents!! :) After our fun hike, we went into St. George for a little shopping and a YUMMY dinner at Ruby Tuesdays! I never knew getting soup and a salad bar could be SO DELICOUS!! I highly recommend it! I didn't get any pictures with my camera (we forgot it, AGAIN), so THANKS Mom and Jasmine for the pictures!! :)