Then, On to Colorado

So, after we spent several days in St. George, I drove home to Colorado with my parents.  We spent most of our time just relaxing and running errands.  Abby spent the majority of her time in the backyard at my parents house.  They have a nice play set that she spent hours playing on.  They also have a few apple trees, and the apples were ripe, so Abby ate tons of apples while playing out back.  I spent one night at my sisters place in Denver.  Abby and Kenna loved getting to play together.  Unfortunately, I didn't really take any pictures.  My camera got tucked away, and so, I kind of forgot to take it out to capture our time with some photos.

Family Trip to St. George

Last week my parents came over and picked me and the girls up to head down to St. George.  We were going to meet my brother Scott and his family who coming from San Diego, and all visit my Grandma who lives there.

Lexi joined in the fun

The first day there, Friday, we made a trip to the local inflatable jumping place (it's becoming a regular activity for Abby.  Unfortunately, Abby was the only kid there, so she was a little unsure and timid.  Later that night we went to Snow Canyon to play on the sand dunes.  We used to go there all the time when I was a kid and play and run.  Both Abby and Lexi really enjoyed playing in the sand.

The next day we went to Zion Canyon.  It was still nearly 100 degrees that day, so it was quite warm.  But we did manage the little hike to Weeping Rock.  Then, to cool off a little, we went to the river and played a little.  After that, we took a drive to go through the tunnel.  The kids loved it when my dad would honk the horn in the tunnel.  They would laugh and scream. 

 

Abby threw a fit almost the entire walk to weeping rock, so she isn't looking too happy here.



Weeping rock.  If you haven't been there, it's a  large rock that literally has water dripping out of it.

Lexi, "hiking" on the trail.

Scott, Sam, and Abby playing in the river



Sunday, was kind of a chill day. We did make another trip out to Snow Canyon that evening.





Dance Class

Abby started dance class a couple of weeks ago.  She absolutely loves it!  She is in a combo class, ballet/jazz/tumbling.  So cute!

My Little Tender Mercy

Let me start by painting you a picture of my day. 

The last week or so, Lexi's sleep has been sporadic.  She got a little cold last week, and also has a tooth just millimeters from braking through.  The last couple of nights I have been up with her quite a bit, and she decided to start her day at 5:30am.  A little early for me, but whatever.  So, I'm tired.  And when I get tired, I'm even more forgetful and scatterbrained than usual. 

I needed to get to the store to get some groceries.  So, we were off to Smith's.  Abby brought a book in the car that she can draw in with a dry erase marker.  When we arrived at the store, she had managed to color all over her arms, legs, and little on her face.  And I was out of wet wipes.  So, she would have to walk around with that stuff all over for awhile.  Oh, yeah, and I'm pretty sure I forgot to comb her hair this morning.

I'm desperately trying to stay on a budget lately, so grocery shopping requires more prep work and more time in the store.  I have to make sure I get the best price on every item, and add up every item placed in the cart to make sure I don't go over my budget.  I realized about 10 minutes after we entered the store that this was not going to be easy. 

When I finally got to the check out, I was very frazzled.  I was nervous about having more groceries than I had cash for, so that was what I was totally focused on.  Meanwhile, Abby was throwing several items on the belt, and the cashier was trying to have a conversation with me.  But I was still only thinking about money.  When the total came up, I was $1 over my budget.  So, I asked the cashier to take a few candy bars out.  The lady behind me heard and said "oh, I have a dollar." To which my response was "oh no, it's only candy, don't worry about it"  But of course she insisted.  I was so frazzled and embarrassed.  I thanked her, and nearly ran out of the store.

I know that lady didn't have a clue as to the horrible day I had been having (or maybe it was totally evident on my face), but her offer of a dollar was just the tender mercy that I needed.  I didn't NEED those candy bars (but I really, really wanted them), and on the way out to the car I realized that in my tired, frazzled state, I had forgotten about a couple of coupons I had intended to use, and how I probably could have scrounged up enough change, or that I had wanted to take off the items Abby had been sneaking onto the belt.  If I had thought to do any one of those things, I would have had just enough money.  But I didn't.  I think I needed to see that people can still be kind.  Yesterday I saw this horrible news story about a 4 year old girl who wandered away from her Mom at a Deseret Industries, and later was found in the Men's bathroom with a sex-offender.  When you hear stories like that, it's easy to lose faith in human decency.  So, I'm glad that this lady helped me.  Of course, by the time I got home, I was feeling so bad because I was worried that I didn't thank her enough, and I think I was a little rude to the cashier when she was trying to talk to me.  I was so distracted when she was trying to talk to me that I didn't really give her my attention and I can't even remember if I responded to some of her questions.  Instead of focusing on how embarassed I was, or whether I was rude, I decided to pay it forward.  It's like that comercial for some insurance company, where a person does something nice for someone, and another persons saw and decided to do something nice for some one else, and so on.  I want to remember to take every oppurtunity to help someone out.  All the time I find myself thinking "someone should do fix that" or "someone should help that person out" and I rarely realize that "that someone" could be.

Cam's Moment of Fame

This year Cam was in charge of the MDA's Fill the Boot campaign at work.  Part of what comes with the job is going to the MDA telethon to give them a check for the amount Orem City Firefighters raised this year.  So, this morning he was on TV.  We are so proud of our little TV star : )  I wish I could of figure out how to record it or something : ( Oh well.  He did a great job.

Dinosaur Museum

Lexi was SO tired

Playing in the cave

Playing in the sand pit

They took a small break for a quick round of "ring-around-the-rosy"

In front of the giant shark dinosaur

Are and I took the girls to the Dinosaur Museum today.  I've never been willing to pay full price to go, but they are having $2 Tuesdays, so we decided to fight the crowds and go.

Pirate Island

We went to Pirate Island again yesterday.  For weeks, we have told Abby if she would stay in her bed all night long (she is in a horrible habit of getting up several times a night to come into our room and try to sneak into our bed.  We are both so tired of dragging her back to her room two or three times EVERY night) for one whole week, then we would take her to Pirate Island.  Well, she finally did it.

Climbing in the pirate ship