Eating Dinner

Courtney told us that she was finished eating after only a few bites. We tried to get her to eat more but she kept telling us she was full. So Bryan got a little creative...in a gross sort of way. For the record, dinner was pork chop, potatoes and corn.

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon

We went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for a couple of days. We stayed at the campground there and it was a lot of fun. It's about 2 1/2 hours from our house so after the Parade on the 24th we loaded the car and started to drive. It rained both nights we were there but the days were nice. It was overcast which made hiking nice. Friday morning we hiked from our campground to the Grand Lodge, which was about 1.3 miles. Then we hiked out to a lookout point to see the view of the Canyon. It was neat. After we had rested for a while, and taken potty breaks, we hiked back to our camp. Ethan was pretty tired by this point but he kept hiking. Courtney rode most of the way on Bryan's shoulders, which was a good training hike for him. We ate lunch and then rented a bike that all 4 of us could ride. The kids went on the front and Bryan and I pedaled. It was so hard!! The bike didn't have any gears and there was a lot of uphill. But the kids liked it and Courtney thought we went really fast "just like Lightening McQueen."

Saturday morning we packed up and drove around to see some sights then drove home. We were pretty tired and...I admit...a bit grumpy. But I think we all had fun!

Pioneer Day Parade in Ivins

Our ward had a float in the Pioneer Day Parade on July 24th in Ivins City. The night before, all the Primary children were invited to the Church to decorate their bikes with crete paper and streamers. Ethan and Courtney were so excited! They rode their bikes up there and we decorated their bikes all up (actually, my kids are minimalists so there wasn't much decorating involved). Ethan even put a playing card in his spokes so it sounded like a motorcycle when he rode.

The morning of the 24th, the kids woke up really excited. We went to the fire station to meet up with the rest of the ward and get ready. The Primary supplied bags for candy to be applied to each bike, bandanas and balloons. The kids were loving it. Bryan walked beside Courtney to keep her going while Ethan rode with his friend Carter. I was on the side of the road a few block down the parade route just in case Courtney was too tired to keep going.

Ethan waved as he went by me but Courtney was a little distressed. The fire engines were behind our ward and Courtney was fine until they turned on their sirens. She doesn't like that sound, so she made a bee-line over to me and watched the rest of the parade with me and Bryan.

Ethan loved being in the parade.

Necessity...the Mother of Invention

While Courtney was napping, I went to the library to take a break. And Bryan and Ethan went into the garage to make a garage or something for Ethan's toy cars. After a while, Bryan heard Courtney screaming and running around the house pretty frantically. Apparently she had woken up, yelled for us and then panicked when no one came to get her. Not being one to sit back and wait for help to arrive, Courtney climbed out of her crib and began searching the house for her "lost family." Poor girl! But now that she knows she can climb out, I fear she'll do it more often!

Riding on the "Potty Train"

For months, Courtney has been telling us every time she needs to go to the bathroom but then refuses to use the toilet. At first she complained the the panties were falling off. Then she just decided she didn't want to "ride on the potty train right now." (Apparently she has gotten the idea that potty training is something you ride on, like an actual train.) After the family reunion in Montana, I decided she was ready to hop on the train. Last Monday night, while I gave Courtney her bath, Bryan hid the rest of her diapers. Tuesday morning she wasn't too happy to realize that she didn't have diapers. But she has done a great job. We have always said that she just has to make up her mind to do something and then it happens easily. This was no exception...except it takes a lot of patience on my part!


I have spent more time than I wish to count, sitting on the edge of the bathtub reading the "Good Humor Man" from Little Golden Books to Courtney while we wait for the train to arrive. I have that story memorized, along with the "Little Mermaid" and some Berenstain Bears, Franklin and Little Critter books. I think after a while she told me she had to go potty just to have books read to her. In desperate times I even used food coloring to make the toilet water blue so she could change it green (believe it or not, it worked great!!). And, being the girly girl that she is, she loved spending time painting her finger and toe nails purple. But after 2 days she finally got the hang of it, she even goes dry during naps now. We're still working on night time but it's been great.



A great by-product of her potty training is that Ethan has seen all the attention Courtney has been getting for potty training and has been keeping himself dry at night so he can get some attention too.

As much as I complained about sitting on the edge of the bathtub for hours, I have gotten to know my little girl a bit more than I had before because of all the forced togetherness. It was fun to see her get so excited when she learned how to use the potty. She had to call Bryan each time and tell him that she had used the potty. Luckily, the receptionist would ask who it was calling and so Bryan had time to close his door before he answered the phone so people wouldn't look at him funny. So it's been a good...but long...week.

Making Jam

There was a sale on strawberries and I'm a sucker for strawberry freezer jam. After 2 days of bottling apricots and heating up our house, I decided that making freezer jam would be a fun, cool break. Bryan and I are the only ones who like it, so we have our year supply of jam for the two of us. I made 5 batches of jam and Courtney was my helper. I would cut the strawberries and she would put them in the blender. She would even, when she felt brave, push the button on the blender, but that was very rare. Most of the time she had her ears plugged. It was fun.

Weird Weather

I just have to put this on our blog because it was so odd. When Bryan got home from work yesterday at about 5:30 the temperature was around 95 degrees. It started to rain and in the space of about 10 minutes the temperature dropped to 75 degrees. It was so strange to watch it drop so quickly. We opened the windows but it was so humid that it didn't cool the house off very much but the wind felt nice.