Strawberries, Balls and Tornadoes

Since getting back from our trip to Utah, things have gone back to normal. But these pictures (and there are a lot, sorry) show . . . well . . . OUR level of normal. The first full day we were back, this is what happened to Dad when he walked in the door. They would not get off of him for a full five minutes at least. There were hugs and kisses and a lot of smothering.

Later the same day, Addie was so tired that she fell asleep while eating a snickers. Can you see it? I thought it was pretty darn funny. And it was a snack size snickers, so she really only had one or two bites before she couldn't take it anymore.

Tiredness was rampant those first few days after our long trip and Andres loves both his Aunty Kim and books.

I was in the mood for some Strawberry Shortcake and everyone wanted to help with the strawberries (because they're oh-so-helpful like that).

Andres basically pulverized his strawberry. All over himself and the floor. He made such a mess that when he tried to stand up, he did the splits. He thought it was really funny.

The finished product. Doesn't that look so good? It was.

One day when Andres was napping, Addie said she was going to the ball (like Cinderella) and I told her she couldn't go in her pajamas. So we spent the morning getting all fancied up to go to the ball. She chose dresses for both of us and then we looked through my jewelry (what little I have) and picked out some fun things. Then we did each other's hair and I did makeup (what little I have) for both of us.

These were Addie's choices for our "glass slippers".

Poor Addie. She loves to dress up and look pretty and do fancy things, and this is what she gets. Honestly, we're wearing the fanciest of my necklaces and using both of my only articles of makeup. I've realized I need to have more of that stuff around. I mean, we had fun and I don't think she knows at this point that her mom is pretty lame, but someday I'm sure she's going to figure it out.

Andres woke up in time to be our coachman

He was allowed a short break while Addie and I danced and twirled.

TORNADO in NORTH LIBERTY May 22, 2011

As we walked out of church on Sunday the Tornado Sirens were blaring. As we drove home, Jason got a message from the National Weather Service telling us that there was a Tornado Warning in our county and that we should seek shelter immediately. Jason was excited. I was not really nervous; I'd been through several of these in my lifetime and knew what to do. But it is a bit different being the mom and the homeowner. So we went downstairs and we made a fort (just for fun, it obviously was not much protection) and we were having fun watching the news and hearing what was going on outside. The wind was crazy and there was hail the size of eggs.

Jason did not think it was worth the effort to climb into our fort.

But look how cool it was - we could be all snug in the fort and still see the news!

This is where we moved the fort after a tornado had actually been sighted on the ground about a mile away from our house. This seemed more secure, and it was very cozy.

So we survived! And now we know a bit better how to handle the next one.

Trip to Utah

Addie, Andres and I went to Utah . . . again. We didn't think that we would be going anywhere until next Christmas. But these darn Utah people that we love have to go and do something that makes it impossible not to come. I was able to go to my Aunt and Uncle's sealing in the Logan Temple and it was wonderful. There was a lot of family there and it was really fun to see them. The kids were dressed really cute and I can't wait to see pictures. As it is, I only took 2 pictures of the whole time I was there besides the climbing adventure (see previous post). Sad but true. But, basically: take some of my favorite people to hang out with, add lots of really yummy food, and even a Harry Potter movie marathon = our time in Utah. We had a great time with cousins and lots of Grandma and Grandpa time.

Andres learned some new things while we were there. He now says 'no,no,no' and shakes his finger when he's doing something he's not supposed to (he kept trying to walk into the street when we were doing work in the yard). He knows how to say Grandma (but that's what he calls everyone he likes that isn't mom, dad or Addie). There are other things, but I can't remember. Needless to say, we had a great time.

Here are the two pictures:

Climbing

While in Utah we went down to Provo to visit Uncle Kevin and Aunt "Kimby" and we went to a climbing gym. Addie had so much fun. She really got into it and wasn't afraid at all. Which is very interesting considering that she is afraid to climb to the top of a jungle gym in order to go down the slide.

She of course insisted on wearing at least the top half of the Cinderella dress-up that Grandma got out while we were at her house.

Andres mostly just liked to walk around and stare at the people who were really climbing. He would just stare at them . . . yeah, he's a funny kid.

Addie wanted to hang like she had seen Kevin and Kim do.

She reached all the way to the top of this smaller wall with just a bit of assistance.

Andres needed a little more help.

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go again!