Here is a quick re-cap of our vacation so far:

Monday, July 21
I realize this is a milestone that we should have reached a very long time ago, but Zoe finally slept through the night! Since we were in the same bed I, however, did not sleep all night. She was very squirmy and, as my mother would say, she likes to "waller". I was hoping that once she slept through the night I would actually feel refreshed and renewed. I won't make that mistake again. I am just going to accept the fact that I will not be getting any decent sleep for next 20 years. According to my Mom the first 20 years are the worst!

Tuesday, July 22
I took Mom to work and then tried to get Mandi and Lindy together to go with me to pick her up so all of the ladies she works with could see all the grand kids. We didn't quite make it. They finished earlier than we were anticipating so we just picked Mom up and decided to go to lunch. Lindy suggested going to Taco time which I was just fine with, but Mom said she was going to call Dad and see where he was so he could join us. When she heard we were thinking Taco Time she said that she and Dad would probably go to Olive Garden. We all decided that sounded much better so that's where we ended up.

Wednesday, July 23
Maggie, Zoe and I were out with Mom running errands and on our way home their was a fly in the car. Maggie started panicking and throwing her hands around shooing the fly away, bawling and basically having a full on melt down. After several minutes she calmed down and Mom was asking her why she was having such a problem with the fly and Maggie's response was..."I was just raised that way!"

Shelly's neighborhood was having a pioneer day parade and she thought Maggie would enjoy being a part of it. Starr let her borrow a pioneer dress and bonnet that Camille had worn for something and she let Zoe borrow a sheriff's vest with a badge and a cowboy hat. They both looked too cute. Maggie had so much fun! She rode Camille's scooter in the beginning but had to walk later because she had hurt her ankle earlier in the day and it was hard for her to keep pushing the scooter. Shelly was walking with Zoe and she said that she did not want to hold her hand or have her pick her up the whole time. She waved at the people on the side watching the parade and thought she was such a big girl. After the parade we got the chance to see Shelly's "department". Maggie had wanted to see where Shelly was living so she gave us the grand tour of her apartment. She is living in the basement apartment of a woman's house and to get to her place we had to go down a set of stairs on the side of the house. When we got to the bottom there was a huge Texas sized beetle in the door way. We all gathered up our courage and ran through the door. Them Mom noticed that there was a grasshopper above the door. YUCK!! When the tour was over we ducked under the grasshopper and jumped over the beetle to safety and made our way home. I didn't get any pictures in Shelly's "department" because we were just too freaked out by the bugs!

Thursday, July 24
PIONEER DAY! Mom, Dad, Starr and Maggie met Mandi, Justin and Sadie at the Utah County Courthouse for the "Taste of the Valley". Several restaurants from the area get together and you can sample some of their dishes. I stayed home with Zoe while she napped. They came home with tattoo's from one of the restaurants and we put them on the girl's. Zoe thought she was sooooo cool and she kept showing it off to everyone.

Sunday, July 27
Just a regular Sunday. Not much of interest until about 10:00 pm. Landon and Camille came home from Texas. Starr had set up a cute beach themed party for Camille's birthday she had while in Texas. We celebrated with a very rich very chocolaty chocolate cake and ice cream. That was a pretty good midnight snack.

We are still enjoying our time here in Utah. The girl's are having so much fun playing with cousins and having new adventures. Here a couple of pictures from the last few days.

Zoe found Mom's mop bucket and ran away with it. She didn't want to give it up, but Grandma finally won and got her bucket back!

Zoe, Sadie and Maggie had fun playing at the McDonald's playland. Zoe was a little nervous about the Ronald statue but then saw Maggie and Sadie playing with it and got into the spirit of McDonald's!

Zoe made Grandpa a fabulous Lego necklace. He was totally thrilled!

Zoe likes to play under the bar, but it's a little scary because the barstools tip over pretty easily.

I was doing the dishes and heard Zoe fussing, but it wasn't sounding too serious so I just asked Maggie what was going on and she said Zoe was stuck. I couldn't figure out what she could be stuck in. I never would have imagined it would be the doll house. Too funny!

June 30th our first Utah adventure! We got to go to Hatch Patch and have fun, food and be with family. This was the most exciting game of Red Rover I have ever seen. Zoe was pretty impressed too. She just walked up and down this hill until it was time to go.

This little truck was the most popular item among the one to four year old crowd. It was a little tight, but Sadie reluctantly let Zoe have a turn at the wheel. Zoe was lucky enough to catch a few minutes by herself.
I watched Sadie while Mandi ran home for a minute so I threw all the girls in the tub to wash off the bug spray. They had a blast and Grandma's bathroom floor got thuroughly drenched.
(Maggie, Sadie & Zoe)

We have had lots of popcorn at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Maggie requests popcorn and a movie almost every night. I think Zoe is grateful for her requests. She has really loved the popcorn.

(Maggie, Sadie & Zoe)

On the Fourth of July we went to the parade in Provo and then to the park by Mom and Dad's for a picnic. The parade was lots of fun and the girls had fun seeing the "Princesses".

(Lindy, Cooper, Zoe, Kyler, Kaden, Kelsie, Maggie, Zack, Mom, Starr, Brianna, Will, Hayden, Louise, Me, Trent, Kayle, Linda)

I was not prepared for the water fountain so Maggie just played in her clothes and I stripped Zoe down to her diaper. They had fun splashing and then took off for the swings.

(Maggie, Zoe, Cooper)

VACATION

The girls and I have been having fun in Utah. We got the chance to go to Hatch Patch and see lots of my extended Blackburn family. Tanaya, John and Talayna came to visit for a few hours one evening, and we have had lots of fun with Sadie and Cooper. Pictures will be coming soon.

Worst Mother Award Goes To...

I feel like such a jerk. Maggie has had her glasses for a year now and has been saying lately that she can't see out of her left eye. She has been practically sitting on top of the TV and has had a problem with reading. I took the doctors word that we didn't need to patch her eye and that her glasses would work just fine. NOT TRUE! We just got back from her yearly eye check-up (with a new pediatric opthamolagist and he said that her prescription was way off and she was having such a hard time seeing out of her left eye she couldn't focus on him. He had to keep telling her "look right at me", "look straight ahead", "it's really important that you look right at me". I almost started crying because I realized just how bad it was. She really can't see out of her left eye. We have to patch her right eye so she can train her left eye to work. He is also putting her in bifocals because it turns in even more up close. He said to have her wear the patch for 6 - 8 hours a day, with her glasses and to come back in two months. There should be noticeable improvement in that time. Her next appointment is just a few days before school starts. I hope we can keep the patch on her and help her understand how important it is.

I had to take this very rare opportunity I have been given to get some updating done. Both the girl's are asleep right now and that NEVER happens. Maggie has not taken a nap in years. I didn't want her to get a headache from them dilating her eyes so I layed down with her to "relax" for a few minutes and she was out like a light. I found this picture of me the other day and thought it was cute and it reminded me of my girls. They both like to have their dolls or toys with them. I staged these pictures today, because both of them just basically passed out, but they do like to sleep with their "friends".

Me and my entourage!

Maggie and her crew!

Zoe and her gang!

THIS IS HOW WE ROLL!!

Texas Weather

We are in the afternoon thunderstorm season here in Houston. It is almost 4:00 and it is so dark outside. The thunder is rolling and I know I don't have many more minutes before my little monkeys get woken up by it. I better try to get something done, other than blogging, while I have a minute.

I've never had fun with an ironing board. I guess I was just using it wrong! I didn't know you were supposed to use it as horse!

Zoe enjoyed her first Build-and-Grow kids clinic at Lowe's. Maggie was having fun taking some pictures of her.

She doesn't look like she was made in China!

I'm not sure where this sticker came from but somehow she got it on her foot. I guess she's our little china doll.

Lots of updates!

It has been too long between posts and too many pictures have been taken. I love having my digital camera, but now that I don't have to get my pictures developed I have over 100 pictures on my memory card that need to be printed and blogged. I will do as much as I can while Zoe sleeps. That doesn't usually take up much time, but she was really tired so maybe I will have a few minutes. So, here we go!

Maggie was able to take swimming lessons for two weeks and she had a lot of fun. I thought she would be nervous and not want to get in, but she went right in and never looked back. Parents were not allowed in by the pool until the last day. It was not really possible to take good pictures through the glass so I only got a few good ones on her last day. She was very proud to have finally earned her certificate and ribbon. Miss Patty was lots of fun and Maggie really enjoyed her swimming experience.

A couple of weeks ago Grandma and Grandpa decided to do some repair work on their house and garage. Glenn helped out alot and so did Maggie and Zoe. They had fun painting with Dad and helping him measure the wood.

Just a little fun after all the hard work. Zoe and Maggie peeking through the fence!

It's only June and Maggie has had four different primary teacher's. Her first got called to a stake calling early in the year, her second got called to counselor in the primary shortly after being called as her teacher and her third was just put in a different ward due to boundary changes. I don't even know who her new teacher is.

First was Sister Amberlee Bingham, next was a team of Krystle Johnson and Sister Heather Hemingway, then it was Sister Janet Bassett. They all loved Maggie and enjoyed having her in their classes.

Maggie had so much fun during her first year in school. She loved Mrs. Powers and doesn't want to move on to the first grade. I think she'll get over that real quick though. Change is hard at first but she adjusts well. She always makes friends really easily and has lots of fun in the process. Her best friend from kindergarten is Merari Portillo. They talked about each other all the time and they always wanted to call each other. Merari's mom and I have talked a couple of times and we realized quickly that they were so much alike. Both are very energetic and outgoing. They love to learn and share the knowledge they have gained with others. They are cute together and have lots of fun with each other. We hope they can keep their friendship going even if they don't get in the same first grade class.

Mrs. Powers, Mrs. B. this was a teacher that would greet the kids that came in the bus entrance. When I would walk Maggie to school we would enter through that door. She would always give Maggie a hug, sing her a song and tell her to blow me a kiss. She was great!

MAGGIE & MERARI, BEST FRIENDS!

Yippee!

I was finally released from my calling as Relief Society secretary. I was in there for three years and I am looking forward to the change. I don't know yet what they have in mind for me, but it won't happen until we get back from Utah. I am happy to have a break...as long as I don't have to go into primary or nursery. Those are just about hellish callings for me!

ANNIVERSARY GIFT

This is the locket Glenn gave me for our anniversary. I haven't gotten a chance to put a picture in it yet. Maggie keeps getting after me to get one it there. Someday I'll get around to it!