Malia Moments

Haven't been too good at bringing the camera around as of late, but here are a few pics I got with my camera phone-



Here is Malia at Thanksgiving with her little pumpkin. She loved it and tried very hard to bite into it!



Here she is all dressed and ready to go. For some reason when I told her to smile, she kept folding her arms. Who knows?



On Sunday mornings I try to take a picture of her all dressed up for church to send to David since that is when he USUALLY gets to have his phone.



Here she is "reading" the Friend. I've gotten her to follow lots of my habits of reading all the time- before bed, at the dinner table. If we are eating and I am reading the newspaper, she insists I give her something to read. Not necessarily a good habit, I know.



Another Sunday outfit.

Here are a few of Malia's sayings as of late:

- She loves to take baths. Although, she pronounces it as Fath. So at dinner the other night when she was done eating, she asked if she could take a "fath". I said to her, "It's BATH. It starts with a B." and sounded it out. She then tells me she wants to take a Buh-FATH!

- At church last week a little girl was trying to say hello to Malia and Mali was refusing. I said to the little girl, "Sorry, she's got attitude". Malia looked at me and said, "No, mama got 'tude!"

-She is fascinated by all of the Christmas trees and lights up. Although, her Christmas is spelled with a "P". She points out every single "ChriPus tree" to me.

-In Spanish, to ask for help you say "ayudame" (not sure on the spelling). Malia asks for help all the time, so I tried to get her to say it in Spanish also. The result? "A-Help-A-Me"!

-She loves to go shopping. Yesterday when we got into the car I told her that we were going shopping. I had to stop at the high school to drop off some stuff and she starts yelling, "No mama! No 'cool! Go shopping!!". Obviously she is a little burnt out with joining me for play practice!

There are a million other things the girl says each day that cracks me up. Wouldn't you know the minute you sit down to type them, you forget??

David graduates from basic training on Thursday. Given limited funds, proximity of the play, and the prospect of driving 12 hours being 6 months pregnant and toting along a 2 year old in possible inclement weather, I will not be able to make it to his graduation. It makes me super sad, because I am SOOOOO very proud of him. Fortunately he will be home soon- 17 Days!!!

I actually took "real" pictures at Thanksgiving, so when I have some time (um...okay), I will post them. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I hear what sounds like Malia opening my newly purchased pack of gum. I am quite sure I am soon to find each individual piece opened. Being as she just toddled in here smelling of pomegranate with a fistful of gum, I best be off! Isn't it fun??

A Stressful Week

So when I went to my ultrasound last week, I received a bit of distressing news. The ultrasound technician measured the baby's nuchal fold at 6mm. A nuchal fold of 6mm or larger is an indication of a genetic defect, most often Down's Syndrome. A bit of background. I, like I am sure many of you, decline the option of an amniocentesis. In my mind, it doesn't matter if my baby had Down Syndrome. As my husband so lovingly put it, "It's our baby, that's all that matters". I guess I have always thought that if I was meant to have a baby that had Down Syndrome, then the Lord would give me the strength that I needed to handle that challenge/blessing. There would be no point in knowing ahead of time. I was definitely not going to terminate the pregnancy and having the knowledge ahead of time would only cause me to stress out and worry until the birth of the baby, and then some. Those that know me well know that I can worry with the best of them. So here I am, not wanting to know such information, and my midwife tells me after my ultrasound that my baby POSSIBLY has ONE of the POSSIBLE indicators of Down Syndrome. She then schedules me for another ultrasound in 4 weeks and that's it!! No further information. My mind went into overdrive. I don't know if any of you have had a similar situation, but my brain was going nuts! I had all kinds of thoughts. How could I possibly handle that?? Most days I feel inept in parenting my toddler and often wonder what in the world I was thinking in bringing number 2 into the world!? Often the thought of two children overwhelms me, much less the possibility of being the mother to a child with special needs. I felt completely and utterly terrified. Not to mention David wasn't here and there was the great debate whether or not to tell him such information. Especially since I didn't know anything definitive and that there is nothing that he could do from boot camp but worry. By Friday I had had enough. I went from being the person who said I didn't care whether or not my baby had Down Syndrome to someone that NEEDED to know. Just that little tidbit of information was driving me crazy! Now that I knew it was a possibility I just wanted to know what I needed to prepare for. Truth be told, I didn't know very much about Down Syndrome and was scared. There is a woman in our ward whose 10th child was born with DS. I have watched their family grow up and have always been impressed with the ability of the parents as well as the siblings to love him unconditionally. At the same time, he is a crack up. He can always make others smile and is so giving. Watching the family I knew that there are so many blessings that come to those who have a person with DS in their lives. At the same time, I think that mother is a true saint and couldn't imagine having the qualities necessary to parent the way a special individual would need. I'm rambling, huh? Well anyway, I called back to the office on Friday and said that maybe I would take the option they had given to me of going down to Iowa City to have specialist give me an ultrasound. They said that was a good idea, that after looking at my file they felt that was best. This scared me even more. I'm a worse case scenario kind of girl and I kept thinking there must be something terribly wrong with the baby. The next few days there was a lot of inner reflection and prayer going on. On Sunday I got to talk to David and told him everything. He was super supportive and said all the right things. He is not a worrier and assured me that regardless of the outcome it would all be okay. Later that night in my prayers I finally got to the point where I could honestly say, "Thy will be done". I received strength and knew that no matter what, the Lord would be by my side and that with his strength I could handle anything. Monday I did a little research on the internet and found that there are at least 7 POSSIBLE signs of DS and that there was a whole school of thought that found any ultrasonic finding bogus in giving a diagnosis of Down Syndrome. They stated that you could only know for sure through an amniocentesis. My mind still said heck no. I didn't feel the risks of that procedure were worth settling my crazed mind. I went to my appointment yesterday with Britt. I felt a little better knowing more information about Down Syndrome and confident that regardless of the outcome, I could handle it. Still terrified, mind you. First we had to meet with a genetic counselor. She was super nice and answered all of my questions. Basically we needed to get a good look at the heart. At my last ultrasound the baby had been moving around too much to get a good look. She said the condition of the heart was one of the strongest indicators. We discussed the possible amnio and I said that I didn't want to make any decisions today and that after the ultrasound I would talk with David and we'd go from there. We went in for the ultrasound and I was so anxious. I was missing David something fierce. The technician started with the heart. 4 beautiful chambers with absolutely no visible defects!!! Then we checked several of the other indicators. The femur was a good length, the baby had nice long bridge in the nose, kidneys "beautiful", fingers and toes looked great. Then she rechecked the nuchal fold. The technician in Dubuque had measured it at 6mm. This measured it twice- 4.5 mm, well within the desired range! The doctor came in and basically said that the other technician must have measured wrong and that there were no visible indications of possible genetic defects. I was so relieved! Of course, an ultrasound isn't fool proof and there is always the possibility of complications. I am just so grateful that everything looks good right now. It was a definite test of my faith. I feel stronger and closer to Heavenly Father than before. I now know that such complications are a reality and that if they should happen, He will be my strength. Not to mention that I have a very supportive husband and family by my side. It has also made me so grateful for the miracle of Malia's birth and in complete awe of the whole miracle of life. This year, with the miscarriage and this whole situation, I am just amazed at the gift of life. Sorry I rattled on for so long. I am sure that I didn't really say everything the way I meant to but just wanted to let my feelings be known. As I read everyone's blogs I am constantly amazed by all of you wonderful mommies. You are all an inspiration. I just hope and pray that each of us is drawing on our greatest source of strength as we make it through the wonderfully challenging opportunity to be mothers. Go Mommies! With that being said, will someone come please potty train Malia for me?

It's a....

Ha! Ha! Just kidding. We did get the ultrasound today but we don't find out the sex of the baby. Going for the element of surprise. Overall, the baby looked great. We do have to get another ultrasound in 4 weeks because the baby was moving around so much that they need to double check a couple things. I missed having David by my side to share in the moment. Britt went with me and I am pretty sure people are beginning to think she is my "life partner"! I was grateful that she could be there. The first one is his/her running legs! The next is the baby's cute little face. I know that it is impossible to tell, but it looks more like David, if you ask me! Isn't technology fun?

An Excuse for the lack of posting....

In an attempt to keep myself busy while David is gone, I am currently the director of the play at my alma mater WDHS. This is my third year doing it. I love working with the kids and we are having a blast getting everything ready for the performance. We will be presenting "A Christmas Story" on December 12,13, and 14th. It has a tricky set, we have faced much opposition from the Athletic... I mean ACTIVITIES director, and we are running out of time and money! No fear, the show will go on. The kids are great and work super hard. In addition, Britt is helping out lots. Although, I do have an "official" assistant director. However, if you can't say anything nice than don't say anything at all!! David gets home in 39 days and I can't wait!!! Hope everyone is doing well. I am going to post some pictures of Malia as soon as I can.

A Farewell/Birthday Celebration

The Sunday before David left our family got together to celebrate with of course, great food. We were also celebrating all of the birthdays within our families (the ones geographically close: Mata, Hayes, Yount, and Hanselmann Families). Britt made an army cake at the request of the Hayes boys and it was appropriate for David's upcoming departure as well. We had a good time and it will be great to get together with all of the family at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The fun Army Cake (checkerboard inside):



Here are some of those celebrating birthdays recently (July, August, September): Row 1- Johnathan Hayes, Andrew Hayes, Row 2- Alex Hayes, Adam Hayes, David Mata, Row 3- Marianne Yount (my mom), Deanne Hayes (my aunt) holding Nora Hanselmann, Row 4- Eric Hayes (Deanne's husband- they are the parents of all those Hayes kids!)



We realized afterward that Malia, Nathan, and Chris were also August birthdays. Oops! In addition, David and Adam have February birthdays! We should have just taken a picture of everyone just to be sure. Oh, well. Happy belated birthday to all!

Hold back, Amanda! Two days of consecutive posting? Settle down! Here are some pictures of when David swore into the National Guard/Army back in September. The day all the fun began! I think I mentioned this before but David signed up through a program called "Active First". The way it works is that he is Active Duty with the Army for the next four years. After those four years, he can either go with the National Guard for four more years or he can continue in the Army. It all just depends on how well he and we like Army life. So far he is liking it. He does wish all the young punks would just learn to shut up and do as they are told! It's been interesting having our communication limited to letters. He is supposed to get to call on Sunday mornings but that is one of the privileges that can be taken away if his platoon doesn't behave. Not to mention the time set aside to call is also the time he can go to church. As much as I want to talk to him, I also want him to be able to go to church. It's been 10 days since we got to talk on the phone to each other. Hopefully soon. I do get letters from him, which is great. I love hearing how hard he is working and that he misses us so much. I must admit that I do get frustrated sometimes doing the parenting thing solo (I know, it's just the beginning!) However, I realize how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to be with Mali every day. David misses her something fierce and I do my best to keep him up to date on her. David loves getting mail so if anyone wants his address just let me know. He'd love to hear from you. It's great to hear the support of those that realize what he is doing is a great thing. You wouldn't believe some of the negative reactions we get. People can be so dumb. Regardless, I am grateful I have a husband who is so willing to serve his country and will do my best to support him.

Here is David getting sworn in...



Here is Malia supporting the National Guard...



Here is David and his recruiter, Klimack...

Seeing Sparks a Decade Later

Hello friends! I am slowly getting things together and that means pulling all the pictures off of my camera. In the middle of August I took my cousin down to Provo. Alyssa is studying at the Paul Mitchell Hair Academy and what better place to reside than Sparks II: Townhouses for Men and Women? It dawned on me as I was helping her unpack that I started my Sparks adventure exactly a DECADE prior!! Where does the time go??? I lived on campus my freshman year at BYU and spent that following spring semester in some apartments just south of campus (for the life of me I can't remember the name of them!). I started my sophomore year at Sparks and stayed there until I graduated. Good times!They've done a lot of updates to the place and I am sure that Aly will have a blast. Hopefully not too much fun... you need to study and work girly! By the way, Apartment #19 now has a reduced rate to compensate for the decreased square footage! The injustice! Aly is in apartment 20. It was great to visit and reminded me of all the great times I had there. Not to mention all of the great people I met! So there you go, a shout out to Sparks.




First is Malia terrorizing in the living room. Note the new couches and carpet.

Next is beautiful Aly putting her groceries away in the remodeled kitchen. Nice cabinets, huh?

I hate "good-byes" and "short hellos", so I avoid them!

So I am "settled" in Farley, Iowa now. Malia and I are living at my mom's house. Thanks, Mom! Britt helped me get unpacked and organized these last couple days. It sure is nice being by my sister. We have lots of fun together and our kids keep us busy. Nothing like a 3, 2, and 1 year old running around!
David and I left Lewiston last Tuesday. Sorry to all of those that I didn't say an official good-bye to. Truth be told I HATE good-byes. I'd rather just avoid them. To me I know I will see you all again SOMETIME so it's just easier to pretend mentally that I'm just going away for "a bit".
We left Lewiston on Tuesday and headed to Phoenix. We spent two very short days with David's family. We managed to squeeze in a trip to the Mesa Temple. David's mom and sister took Mali on a shopping trip. Good times! Then we began the arduous trek to Iowa and arrived Saturday afternoon. I realized I passed lots of you on my way around the country. I would have loved to stopped and spent time with everyone. Just not enough time! I would rather wait to see you all when we actually have time to spend with each other, instead of just a "short hello".
We were able to attend Dubuque Ward on Sunday as a family. For the last time for awhile. It was nice. I was hoping since Dubuque's sacrament is first, unlike Lewiston's being last, that it would somehow improve Malia's behavior. No such luck! Can't wait to wrestle her all on my own!
We met a family that just moved into the ward. The dad had just got back from Ft. Sill, OK where David is going! What a coincidence! We invited them out to our big family dinner that night. It was nice to have Bro. Fountain share his experiences at Ft. Sill and he also gave David a blessing before he left. It was fun to have dinner with all the family, Hayes' included! Britt even made an army cake for David and the Hayes boys' birthdays.
On Monday we tried to get everything done that we could and enjoy our last day together. We went to lunch at the old "Annie's", my mom's restaurant sold and is under new management, new name. It was...not good. I could go off all about it, but the point is that it just made me sad. It was sad to see something that my mom worked so long and hard for be changed into something not so good. Oh, well. Mom likes her job at the bank. We went and visited her at work so she could show off Malia.
David left the next morning from the Dubuque Airport for SLC. Yesterday he flew from SLC to New Mexico to Dallas to Oklahoma City. Then he had to take a bus from OK City to Fort Sill. What a long day of traveling! No thank you. I spoke to him on the phone several times yesterday and he just amazes me! I would have been super cranky given all the traveling. He was just pumped about starting Basic Training! I hope everything goes well for him. I know he will be great. I'm glad Mali and I are here with my family, it will make being away from David somewhat bearable. I'll miss my other families and friends in Phoenix, Logan, and Lewiston tons. Thanks to everyone again so much for all of your help and support. Sorry again for the lack of goodbyes. I'll post some pictures later.

A Much Needed Update

So...things have been quite crazy for us these last few weeks. So much has happened and is going to happen that I don't even know where to start! Here is a rough update...

1. To begin with... probably the most exciting news... I am with child. 12 weeks today. David and I went last week and got an ultrasound and everything looks perfect. So much better results than my last trip to the OB! I'm due March 24th. I am very excited and will be even more excited when the "24 hours a day sickness" is over. I was sick with Malia until about 5 months. I am hoping this one will be kinder to me.

2. Probably the most life changing (although one could argue an addition to the family if definitely life changing!)... David is joining the Army. He gets sworn in this week and will be off to boot camp before the end of the month. After that he has job training that we hope will finish up before the baby is due to arrive. I am very excited for David. He has always wanted to serve in the military and we felt now was the right time. A challenging time, believe me, we know. However, we have prayed seriously about this and feel it is right. In many ways it will be great for our family. Of course, not without challenges. Malia and I can't join him during boot camp or job training. Which leads me to number three...

3. Malia and I are moving to Iowa until the baby is born. My parents have graciously invited Malia and I to stay with them while David is gone. We considered lots of options and felt this was the best for everyone. It is going to be so hard with out David. I will miss him terribly. My only small consolation is to be with my family while he is away. Sometimes a girl just needs her mom and sister. Especially when pregnant with a toddler and without a husband!

4. I eluded to this in my last post... our big scare with Miss Malia. Two weeks ago the doctor had prescribed me Zofran- an anti nausea medication (which by the way seemingly does nothing for me). I had just gotten it on Monday and Wednesday we were all at home. I was upstairs cleaning and David was downstairs cleaning. We each assumed Malia was with the other person. I had my bag sitting up on our chest freezer. Somehow Malia got to the Zofran in the bag and opened it. She came up to David with a fistful of pills and said, "Candy, Papa?". There were only 10 left! I had 7 of them... leaving 13 consumed by Malia. They were the quick dissolving type, so instantly in the blood stream. We rushed her to the ER and they got my little baby hooked up to all types of machines. They didn't have any records of someone this young taking so many, so really had no idea what to do. Since it was already in her bloodstream, they couldn't pump her stomach. They also couldn't give her ANYTHING, because they weren't sure how she would react. Bart, Patrick, and Koby came and gave her a blessing. All we could do is wait and watch her. She was so scared and just couldn't settle down. More than anything she was mad that they had me monitor attached to her feet! She started hallucinating, in Spanish of all things! Talking about monsters and worms. Around 12:30 (5 hours later) she completely settled down and you could tell the medicine had worked it's way out. They wanted to keep her over night, just in case. She woke up that morning, perfectly normal. The doctor assured us that she was fine and there was no damage done. I think I can safely say it was the scariest moments of my life. I definitely am not up for "Mom of the Year" for 2008! I felt horrible and am so grateful that she was okay. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

5. My grandpa George passed away. George was the father of my step-dad, Chris. He was a great man and I admired him in many ways. He was 88 and died in his sleep. Bart, Malia, Aly (my cousin), and I all drove back to Iowa last Wednesday to attend the funeral. 20 hour drives and being pregnant- not a good combination. The funeral went well and it was great to see family. It even worked out that we got to attend my cousin Ashley's (on my dad's side)wedding. We packed a lot into a few days and got back into town on Sunday.

So there you have it. The major events in the Mata home. Some scary, some happy, some sad. We got it all! These next few weeks will be crazy hectic while we hurry and pack up our home. A task I am not looking forward too! Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive during all of this. I am so grateful to family and friends who are so good to us.

An "Agua" Video

Here is a video from our trip to Lagoon a couple of weeks ago. It's of Malia playing in the water fountain at the entrance of the park. It is about 2 minutes and nothing terribly exciting happens. Maybe only the grandma's will have patience to watch it in it's entirety. Nonetheless, I love watching her and thought it was adorable. We have had a challenging week in the Mata home and are just grateful to have Malia in our lives. It I feel up to it later, I may fill you all in on the Mata drama. Just know she is doing okay. She is an amazing little girl and I love her with all of my heart.

A Day at Lagoon

Last week David's company party was a day for the whole family at Lagoon (an amusement park near Salt Lake City). There were lots of rides for Malia. We spent most of the day hanging out with the Caley Family. Bart and David took off for a bit to ride the bigger stuff. I think the definite highlight for Malia was playing in the water at the end. They also provided free dinner. Good Times! Thanks Alpine!

Malia's Second Birthday

Sorry for the delay in posting this momentous occasion. Malia turned 2 on August 9th. We had a great day. Bart, Lori, Caleb, and Max came up for lunch. Thanks guys for being there! I frosted some cupcakes and Malia wanted to decorate them with sprinkles. She kept dumping the sprinkles on the same cupcake, but had a good time. Not to mention she took a bite of the sprinkles between each attempt at decorating. As you can see, Caleb also enjoyed the cupcakes! Later in the afternoon my aunt Deanne and her daughter, Alyssa arrived. They had driven out from Iowa just for Mali's birthday! Okay, Alyssa is starting Paul Mitchell in Provo and Deanne brought her out. Nonetheless it was great that they could be there for Mali's birthday. They brought presents, including one's from my mom and Chris. Malia especially loved the sprinkles. She also liked the fruit snacks that Caleb included in their present. In the evening, we went to the Cache County Fair in Logan. Mali got to pet the animals and walked around. We checked out the rodeo from afar and let Mali climb on the tractors. We thought about taking her on rides but the lines were super long and scary-carnie looking. David let Mali get up close and personal with the agua. She had absolutely no fear of the animals. It was a great day and thanks to all of those who shared it with us.

PS- I realize it has been a bit since I have posted, but what's up with the changes to blogspot? How come when I am creating a post, my pictures don't show up as pictures anymore? How am I supposed to add commentary below each one? Can anyone help me out?

Our Trip to Phoenix

Last weekend we took a trip to Phoenix to take Nany back for school. We sure do miss him already! The trip was great and it was good to see family. I had done two other posts with slides from the trip. I had never created a slide before and decided to go back and condense the pictures into one single slide show. I chose the "Melt" slide option between pictures to accurately depict Phoenix's weather conditions-- STINKING HOT! It was lots of fun and great to see all of the family. Now I just need to get back to Iowa!

Tubing/Rafting Down the Logan River

 

A couple days before we took Nany back to AZ we decided to go down the Logan River. David, Hernan, and Malia had done it the week before in a couple of tubes. This time we decided to add David's 2 man raft for Malia and I to sit in while Nany and David rode in the tubes. Being as Malia is a huge fan of "agua", she had a great time. Well, we all did until we hit some rocks and punched a hole in the raft! After that David had to hold on to the raft, plugging the whole while simultaneously guiding it. It turned out to be quite the adventure. The water was FREEZING!! And our grand plan of bringing two cars so we didn't have to hike back didn't work out so hot since we left the keys in the wrong vehicle! Oh, well. We still had lots of fun.

Getting Dressed Solo?

 

A while back my neighbor dropped of some of Malia's 6-9 month clothes that she had borrowed. Malia found the bag and decided to dress herself. Well that's the story anyhow. Her uncle Hernan was in the room, so I am quite sure he helped in the process. Although, the style of two legs in one leg whole is very Malia as of late. Regardless, the results were quite humorous!

A Day in Park City

 

Yesterday Malia and I headed up to Park City to see my high school friend, Heather Brown. Andrew was there for a teaching conference and Heather and their son, Emmitt, came to visit. Last year at this same time Heather was there for the conference and Andrew and Emmitt came to visit. Last year, Marissa (my cousin), Malia, and I headed up there to visit. It was fun to be able to do it again this year. Emmitt and Malia are only 6 months apart and had a great time playing together. We hung out in the pool for awhile. Sorry, no pool pics. Malia is more than enough to juggle in the water, much less a camera also! Then we headed over to the outlet malls. Fortunately I didn't find any deals! Then the kids played on a nearby playground. The one where Malia is lying on the ground was pretty comical to watch. She had went down the slide and then tried to jump into Emmitt's arms! Obviously, he couldn't catch her. Although he is quite a bit bigger than her. He's in the 95th percentile for height, while Mali's in the 5th. Although a bit of a drive (compounded by my apparent inablility to follow directions), it was great to be able to catch up with friends. Thanks, Heather!

Memories...

Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!

Malia's First Haircut

Those of you who get to see Malia on a regular basis know that the girl has gobs of hair. I try my best to keep it semi-restrained but she tends to have hair in her eyes most of the time. She has the front wispies that aren't really bangs but pretend to be. I have wanted to cut Malia's hair for quite some time but David was pretty insistent that she grew her hair out. I do want Mali's hair to grow out and can't wait until its long enough (and she'll sit still long enough) for me to braid it. In the mean time, it was driving me nuts! When David's mom came to visit, she kept telling David to cut her hair. I was grateful for the reinforcement. Not only was it in her eyes, she started to chew it- EWW! So when David and Nany took off this afternoon with Patrick to do "manly things" (aka shoot guns), I decided to get the job done. Mind you, I have never cut a girl's hair before. I used to cut the Hayes' boys hair with clippers. That was until I knicked their ears too many times and they wouldn't let me anymore. Oops! I thought about taking her in to an actual salon to get it cut, but couldn't justify spending the money for just a little trim of the bangs (or "fringe" for those beauty school graduates and drop-outs!). So I just grabbed a pair of scissors and went to town. Actually it took several attempts to get the job done, since Mali was being a wiggle worm.

Here is the before. Note the hair in her mouth.
Here is the after. Not the straightest but I tried. At least now you can see her big beautiful brown eyes better!

Note the girl isn't wearing any clothes. Her newest trick is stripping to her bare bottom and refusing to put clothes back on. I've been told that she is just enjoying the feel of being naked. That's all fine and dandy until I have to deal with the pee puddles!

Here is a video of Malia "playing" with Sammy. You can hear her actually say his name in it. It's not very exciting but Malia watched about 10 times in a row on the camera so I thought someone might enjoy it. Soon after I stopped recording she started crawling around on all fours after him, even going under the coffee table. It was pretty funny. She never gets close enough to actually touch him, she's too scared. I do have to watch her trying to throw objects, usually pillows, at Sammy, trying to get his attention. He pretty much just acts like she doesn't exist. In the video Mali also throws something at Nany, David's brother, also trying to get his attention. It's been great having Nany stay with us. He's been helping out by watching Malia for us and she loves all of the attention. We spent our Saturday morning weeding the garden and flower beds. Fun, fun, fun!

Fourth of July Weekend

Whew! We made it through our super busy/fun weekend! It was great to have David's family visiting from Arizona. His mom and sister left this morning. David's brother, Hernan or Nany, is going to stay with us until the 25th of July. Friday the fourth was our busiest day with all of the Lewiston festivities. As far as my park booths, things turned out just fine. We had a children's ride vendor show up at the last minute, yipee! We also had two vendors that just didn't show. Again, how rude! I was crazy enough to volunteer next year again. Should be relatively easy this time, now that I know what is going on! Goal is to make it bigger and better. If anyone has any ideas that you'd love to share, feel free. Any fun and interesting activities/booths at any of the festivities you attended this holiday? Pass 'em on, please!

We started the day off with the big parade. I was actually very impressed with it's size and the amount of candy! Now I know for next year to get my chair's out early if I want to sit in front of my own house! I had to ward off an old man who argued with me that it was public property and wanted to set up shop in front of my house. I promptly put out our chairs so that all of our visiting family would have room to sit. Not only were we fortunate enough to have David's family visiting but my brother Bart, his wife Lori, and their boys, Caleb and Max joined us.

Nany insisted he could see the parade from the porch just as well as roadside. No candy for him!A few parade highlights! Too much candy for Malia.After the parade we headed to the park to check out the booths and the rides. I was stuck dealing with the visiting health inspector at one of the booths. David took Malia for a ride on "Grandpa Max's Rainbow Train". I guess she did pretty well. Insisted on taking her shoes off before going.After the festivities in the park died down, we chilled at home for a bit. Here is David and his Mom, with Sammy perched on her shoulder. On the right is David's sister, Elizabeth.Up close and personal with Malia.Later on that evening we headed over to the pavilion for dinner and then nabbed a spot on the grass for fireworks. While we were waiting the Bodily's stopped by to chat and gave us a bag of cotton candy. Malia's first taste ever, we believe. I think she shares my opinion of the stuff, okay but not great. Mi burrito. Mali was being a stinker so I thought I'd try our old trick of wrapping her up tight to settle her down. That was SO last year! It lasted for two nano seconds. Oh, well!
To pass the time, we brought along SORRY! David's brother and sister had never played and were hesitant to try it. I think we ended playing it five times while they were here!Watching the fireworks. Pretty decent show for such a small town.The next day we went up to Logan Canyon to cook out. Proof that once again Mali was being a stinker. I think too many sweets and not enough sleep! We tried a new game, too. Well, new to David and his family. The infamous Bull, also known but many other not so proper names. Another game that once they learned it, they loved it. Played it quite a few times while they were here, too.

Here is Mali giving love to her tia and tio. She was particularly attached to Nany. She wakes up in the morning asking for him, holds his hand, and is constantly dragging him around to do things. It will be a fun few weeks for both of them...To finish it off, a picture of my stud of a husband. Love you! Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend.