Time Out for Women

Alright, this post is for all you Southern Utah women out there. Time Out for Women is coming to St George. I've never been to one of these before, but I hear they are amazing, and quite rejuvenating. Basically it's a Friday evening and Saturday morning and afternoon full of inspiring speakers all designed to give us as women sweet assurance. That's the theme for this year, "Sweet Assurance: the certainty that comes when you know life's truths." Chieko Okazaki will be there, which, if you ask me, is worth it by itself. So come!

November 6-7, 2009
@ The Dixie Center

The cost is $57 for the full weekend if you register by October 7th ($50 for Saturday only). After the 7th it goes up to $65. And, get this, if you register as a group of 5 or more, it's only $47 per person. But you have to register by October 7th for that deal. I know that's like a week away, so time to get on that!

I'm volunteering for this event, which means that if you have any questions, you can ask me and I can. . . ask someone else, since I know very little. But it also means that I'm supposed to be spreading the word, so if you can all spread the word too, that'd help me out. In fact, I have a whole bunch of pamphlets at my house that I'm supposed to hand out, but I'm not exactly sure where'd I'd do that, since I have no life outside of my home. So if you want a pamphlet, I'd be happy to give you one, or two, or twenty. And if you have any suggestions on where I should be passing these things out, send them my way.

Weekly Quote 9/28/09

"La, la, la, la, lamp post,
La, la, la, la, lumps in my oatmeal."

Bert and Ernie sing about the letter L. New quote up!

Highlights

I haven't felt like blogging for quite some time. Nothing exciting is going on, and my Julia-free-time is all soaked up by things like "eating" and "showering" and "cleaning the bathroom." Here, in a bulleted list, is a smattering of what we've been up to:

• Pining for Autumn. It turns out autumn is on its way, as it is only supposed to get to 90 today. Last night we opened our windows, and this morning it was cold. Cold, I tell you! I'm so ready.
• Killing bugs. Lots of them. Spiders, roaches. Yucky stuff. I think we need to spray.
• Visiting National Parks. Well, really, just Bryce a few weeks ago and Zion last Saturday. But we're planning a trip to Arches and Mesa Verde in a couple of weeks. We're quite fortunate to live so close to an abundance of national parks.
• Making good use of the local library. Julia loves to go and look at the books (and play with the toys). Occasionally we'll hit the Toddler Time at the St George library (the Washington library story time starts at 10:30, and Isaac comes over at about 10:45 every day, so that doesn't really work). Also we've been checking out a lot of movies. Currently we're watching the first season of House.
• Watching NewsRadio. On Hulu. Good stuff.
  
• Listening to lots of Girlyman. We're obsessed, I tell you. OBSESSED!
• Singing! Both Lieto and the Keynotes have started back up, and I am ever so happy about it. Lieto has a fall concert full of religious music (November 14, mark your calendars), but the Keynotes are preparing for the Christmas concert. CHRISTMAS! I am always in such a delightful mood on Wednesday afternoons, because I have been fed by the dulcet tones of that blessed season.
  
• Running the ward. OK, that is an exaggeration. Really, Clark was just marvelously busy for one Sunday, as he taught Elders Quorum, and then taught Sunday School for all the youth (ages 12-17), and then played the organ for Sacrament Meeting. A busy day, to be sure, but only one day. And for that day I had the joy of trying to tame Julia for 3 hours. She starts going to nursery in less than a month. Of course, there is General Conference, and we're going to be out of town the other two weekends, so next time we go to our ward? She'll be going to the nursery. We're all terribly excited.
• Speaking of Julia, she's learning all sorts of new things. She's talking more and more, and surprising us with the words she knows, like "stroller." She just said it one day, I didn't teach it to her. And "bow." She started saying it one day and I could not figure out what she wanted. "Bow! Bow!" she said, while patting her head. Clark had to tell me that she wanted a bow. In my defense it makes absolutely no sense that she would know about bows, because she rarely wears them. And it wasn't a Sunday. Apparently she likes to get all dressed up to play with her friend Craig.
  
• Not napping, let me tell you. We just hit the 1 hour mark, and I hear Julia stirring. All you parents of toddlers who take 2 or 3 hour naps? My envy overfloweth. I have no idea how to get her to sleep longer. And I have the added problem that if I leave her in her crib, she'll cry and wake up Isaac. And as much as I want both of them to only take a 1 hour nap, I don't think my nerves could take it.

Anyway, now I've got to go. If you have any suggestions on how to get a longer nap out of this kid, please, share.

Weekly Quote 9/21/09

"It's so early. . . you guys want to go get some coffee or something?"

Val Kilmer. The Saint. New quote up.

Help?

Does anyone in the St George area have canning stuff I can borrow? I guess by "canning stuff" I really mean the big tub to can it in. Or a pressure cooker. But I don't know how to use that (not that I've ever actually canned anything anyway). Basically I've got jars, I'll get lids, and peaches are on sale at Harmons, so I would welcome anyone who has knowledge, skills, or supplies they can share.

Weekly Quote 9/14/09

"And what about all the September moons?"

I am so very glad it is September and not July. The weather forecast has only double digits for the next 10 days! I'm also very glad to have Peter B. music in my life. Apparently glad enough to keep the quote up for 2 weeks. New quote up!

Clark's not the only one growing crystals

Do you know what happens to the Cranium sculpting clay when you don't play it for 5 years?

It crystallizes.

Salt crystals galore. Apparently we need friends to come play games with us more often.

Bonked

My baby bonked her head today. Hard. And then cried. Hard. And now we all feel awful that it happened.

Bryce Canyon

To celebrate the rest from our Labors, we decided to go to Bryce Canyon and make a day of it. Clark already hit on the basics (including Julia's eruption). But here is where you'll get the good stuff - the pictures!

I am forever in awe of the beauty of Bryce Canyon. It takes my breath away every time I see it. And I feel that hiking there is a unique experience in that you get to go down into the amphitheater and be surrounded by hoodoos. And where else do you hike down first and up last? OK, I guess that's how you hike the Grand Canyon. But still. Not your run-of-the-mill hiking excursion.

Pulling a hat switch. (What I wanted to say was "hat trick," but switching hats isn't really a trick.)
One awesome family photo. Be looking for it on your Christmas cards.

Sleepy baby.
At this point in the hike, Clark was D-O-N-E. It was quite the role reversal. Apparently we've found the threshold for equal fatigue in Clark and Shannon on a hike, and that is adding Julia's current weight to Clark's load.

As an aside, we got a new hiking backpack! Or really, we came into ownership of an old hiking backpack! How old you ask? Oh, somewhere around 25 years. My parents gave us theirs. Apparently Whitney hated it, so it's not as well used as you would think. And all things considered, I think it's a good one. You would have to ask Clark if you wanted a more thorough opinion on the matter.

More Maps

We've been spending some more time with the maps, and Julia the Sponge is learning a lot. Here's a sampling:

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She knows Russia, too, I just forgot to ask. And sometimes Mexico. She's learning more states as well. I don't know how she'll ever be able to find Rhode Island or Luxembourg (Germany is hard enough). Good thing we live in the West (along with most of our family and friends)!

Little Helper

I got home from the grocery store the other day, and while I was bringing in all the bags from the car, Julia decided to help put things away. Behold, my little helper:

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