A funny Ali story

Ali said the cutest thing when we were grocery shopping a few weeks ago. She has asked me not to tell people the story because their reaction embarrasses her but I'm afraid that I'm going to forget it. Hopefully since anyone who reads this story will be able to react away from her it's OK to add it to the blog. So, we were shopping at Winco in the meat department. Suddenly Ali exclaimed, "OH MY GOSH!!! THERE'S BITS OF PEOPLE IN HERE!!" To which I replied, "What???" She explained it to me by pointing to the signs and reading, "See- 'shoulder steaks', 'ribs', 'riblets'..." She didn't see the small word printed on each of those signs that read 'pork'. It was so funny I had to try really hard to not laugh at her. I pointed out that it was meat and picked her up so she could see into the freezers and not just the signs. She was OK after that but at the time she was really freaked out.

The Big Game

Ali decided that we needed to have a powder puff football game at Grandma's house. (We recently watched her favorite babysitter, Ariel, play). So, we decided it would be good to do it while the turkey was cooking. She figured out the teams. Her team, which included herself, her Dad and Grandma was the BYU team (obviously). The other team which was Grandpa and Mom was the Utah team. She was a little disappointed that we wouldn't have anyone to be the audience but we talked her into letting Mojo (the dog) cover that. Here she is demonstrating her touchdown victory pose. Here is Ali trying to tackle Grandpa on the run. And here he is tackling/tickling her. Ali made John hold the ball while she ran to kick it. She was disappointed when he didn't yank it away and made him re-do the whole thing just like Charlie Brown. It was so funny! She even fell on her back (in slow motion and very carefully) while screaming AAARGH!! like Charlie does. I couldn't stop laughing and begged her to do it again so I could get video. But, because we were all laughing she declined. Ali quickly lost interested in the game and spent most of the time playing on the playground with Grandpa.

"Happy Turkey Day!"

This year we spent Thanksgiving down at Dad and Bonnie's house. Though they live less than an hour away, we opted to spend the whole weekend down there. It was great for us to get away for a while for a mini vacation. The only problem is that now Ali is asking when she can do it again without us. "Just me and Grandma and Grandpa." Ali had a lot of fun cooking with Grandma. Grandma lets her do so many more things than Mom does. Here she is making the pumpkin pie. Grandma let her pour in the condensed milk all by herself. Here is Ali helping make the homemade noodles for the turkey noodle soup. I think she ate more noodles raw than she did cooked. On Saturday we got to go with Grandma and Grandpa to pick out their tree and then help decorate it. Ali's favorite part was being allowed to use the stepladder. She thought it was funny that she was bigger than me (Mom). This is a close up I took to put in her yearly Christmas ornament. I just thought I'd share it.

Ali's first talk

A couple of weeks ago Ali gave her first talk in Primary. I was a little worried that John was going to have to be the one to give it. She didn't want anyone to hear her practice- even me. The Saturday before her talk we were babysitting a 3 month old and she wouldn't practice her talk unless I had the baby turned away so he wasn't looking at her (he was sleeping but she was insistent). We also had her practice in the Primary room before all of the kids came in. When it sounded like someone was turning the doorknob to come into the room she would immediately freeze and stop talking. Here she is practicing with John. Since she can read, we simply typed out her talk and she read it. It was about being thankful so she held up some pictures of things we should be thankful for. (Food, family, the world etc.) She decided to hold the picture up for the JR Primary to see (they sit on the side that could see her holding it) and then she would give it to John to show the SR Primary. He kept forgetting during rehearsal and she had to keep reminding him how to do it the right way. It was really funny until I realized where she gets that from... So, when the time came to give her talk, she stepped right up to the microphone and started reading her talk. It was perfect! I couldn't believe this was the same child! We were just so proud. It was a moment we'd waited for for so long and weren't disappointed. Later that day I got an e-mail from the Primary President that I'd thought I'd share. (Mostly for posterity's sake since after I copy and paste it here I'm deleting it.) "Sunday was sooo awesome, when she gave her talk so sweetly and fervently. Everyone in the room hushed as she captured their undivided attention…. I remember thinking, too bad for anyone sitting in another room of the church as they were missing the most spiritual and uplifting moments of the day. I felt like if all we had for Primary that day was her talk and the song, that would have been enough."

Happy Halloween

I was chastised a few weeks ago by a friend at church for not updating our blog often enough. Of course she is right so I am trying to make amends by posting some semi-recent pictures. Ali was a knight for Halloween this year. This is Ali with Sami (the little girl I babysit) at the ward trunk or treat party. Here she is at the Halloween party at school. She is on the pumkin walk. There was no limit as to how many times you could win so she spent the majority of her time doing this. And again... ...and again. She did pause for snacks though. Here is Ali's whole class. Teacher Vicki was grapes and Ali thought that was the funniest thing ever! She still giggles about it when she remembers. On Halloween we went to some friend's house for dinner and trick or treating. This is Ali's friend Eli. They were both thrilled when they found out that they were both going to be knights. Eli was certain Ali was going to be something girly. (By the way, this was a complete coincidence.)

Awana Kika Kitti

Sarah and Ali recently visited Buhl, Idaho for a baby blessing. During that visit, Tutu taught Ali some hula dancing. She got a kick out of it and couldn't wait to get home to show me.

As luck would have it, Grandma Love was in Hawaii around the same time and got her a cute little hula outfit. You can see Ali in action here.

Here is a stillshot for those too impatient or technologically challenged to download the video:

32 Years and No Grey Hair

We celebrated John's 32nd birthday this week. Ali decided that what he really wanted was to have a Doodlebops party. (This is a show on Disney where three adults dress like puppets and do humiliating things that normal adults would not do. Ali loves them.) So, not wanting to spend money on Doodlebop stuff, I printed off some pictures from the internet for Ali to color. It was also a great way to keep her busy while I made dinner. Dad and Bonnie came over and had dinner with us. Then we all went swimming. John finally got his Creative Zen (MP3 player). He's been playing with it all day. Alicyn was very helpful when it came to opening presents and blowing out candles. We had to make sure there were exactly 32 candles. Ali checked and double checkd (and triple checked and...). This is Ali helping John remember to make a wish and giving him some suggestions. John got a fun book from Mom and Dad Love.

Our new place

Well, a lot has happened since last October when we last posted things. First of all, we moved. We are finally home owners. We bought a little townhouse. It has two bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. Downstairs is a half bath, kitchen, dining, living and third bedroom which we've made into a den/family room. It also comes with a two car garage and a swimming pool. We've made good use out of both. It really is just the right size for us. We don't feel cramped and every space is used. We also have a little backyard and have turned part of it into a garden. So far, only the radishes and strawberries have produced anything we could eat but we have high hopes for the peas and green beans. Here are some pictures of planting day. We didn't move far- just 15 minutes away- but it is a whole different side of town and we're having fun finding our way around. We are now 5 minutes away from some great tennis courts so we bought Ali a tennis racket and are attempting to teach her how to play. She loves being the ball girl when we play and is a great cheer leader if anyone hits the ball and gets it over the net.

Dance Lessons

This summer Ali took dance lessons from the YMCA. She loved the ballet part but got scared during the tap part because of all the noise. I made sure that she had tap shoes thinking that if she was taking part in making the noise she wouldn't be so scared but it didn't really work. Anyway, here are a couple of cute pictures.

Reunions and sunny CA

This year I (Sarah) celebrated my 10 year high school graduation. After a lot of convincing, John agreed to accompany me to the reunion. We actually had a much better time than expected. I thought it would be nice to have a little get together with some of my close friends the night before the official reunion so we could catch up and our spouses could meet each other (that way John wouldn't be too bored at the reunion). Anyway, we had a pot luck dinner at one of my friend's house and it was really fun. There was one slight mishap though. We forgot to change our clocks when we changed time zones so we ended up being an hour late to the party. When we got there Lesa came up and greeted us saying, "We were starting to think the worst happened. Did you drive in today?" I told her we didn't and was completely confused as to why she would think that and why all of my friends were exactly on time. Anyway, someone mentioned the time change and we felt pretty dumb. But, it was still lots of fun. The official reunion was two parts: a daytime BBQ for the whole family and an evening reception for the adults. The BBQ was fun and Ali got her face painted for the first time (sorry no pics). The reception wasn't that great. I am really glad that we went to both, however because there were several people that I wanted to see that went to one event or the other. John started a new job at Yahoo in August. He flew out of Boise from the reunion to California to start training. He is a Training Specialist and is really enjoying his new job. He is so happy to be out of the utility industry and back into a really professional working environment (the free vending machines and bagels on Wednesdays also help). While John was in California, Ali and I went with Bonnie to southern California to visit Kelly and Loren and celebrate Grandma Stevenson's birthday. It was a really long drive but Ali did wonderfully. We had so much fun! Kelly and Loren are really great hosts. My favorite part was the time we spent at the beach. I went boogie boarding for the first time. It was so fun and I couldn't get over how warm the water was! Ali had fun too. She loved running from the waves and playing in the sand with Grandma. Here are some pictures: Here Ali is doing a "sand angle". When she sat up after, you could see the imprint of her curls in the sand. I still cringe when I look at this picture but hey- we're at the beach, right? I gotta let her have fun sometimes. Kelly, Grandma, and Alicyn
Kelly also took us to a fun outdoor shopping spot with lots of fun places to get wet. We had a lot of fun eating way too expensive ice cream and riding on the merry-go-round. Giddyup! There was a really talented balloon artist who could make almost anything you can think of. Grandma bought Ali a Piglet balloon. Ali had a lot of fun pushing him around in her stroller. (I think he looks like the Pink Panther in Piglet's clothes.) Then up to Huntington Beach for the big party. We had a lot of fun with Great Grandma and Grandpa at the park. Here Grandpa is attempting to put the bow back into Ali's hair. It took a little while but he managed it in the end. Check out his hat(s). Then it was off to the pool party at Chrissy and Matt's house. Though Ali is getting pretty good at swimming now, she didn't want to leave the little pool. Kelly and Loren were kind enough to stick close by since it was too cold and windy for me to get in with her. Naturally, Ali spent a long time showing off for Kelly and Loren by diving for sticks. Cousin Emily was kind enough to spend almost an hour blowing bubbles with Ali after swimming. Ali is still talking about this. It was a wonderful trip and we can hardly wait to visit there again.

The drought is over

Well, it's been a really long time since we've posted but we have good excuses. Our August was comprised of vacations and moving and very little else. Some friends of ours told us about a family member who was moving to Missouri (due to some professional conflicts) and was looking for a house/cat sitter for a year. We have been so desparate to get out of apartment living that we jumped on the opportunity. It has been absolutely great! Ali and I have taken up tap dancing and even have some learn-at-home dance lessons on DVD. Ali loves to play and work in the yard and for the first time in 10+ years John is mowing lawns again.

Sports Brainwashing

BYUTV regularly re-broadcasts old BYU football games; games like 1990 Miami, 1994 Copper Bowl, 1985 Washington. As pathetic as it probably is, I try to keep track of when good ones are playing and then watch them if I can on Saturday mornings. (BYUTV.org has an "on demand" feature that allows you to watch anything they have broadcast previously.) Ali loves to come and sit with me while I am watching them, and recently asked "Who do we like?" I recognized it as a great opportunity to continue her sports indoctrination and we had the following exchange:

"We like the blue team. The blue team is BYU."
"Oh. Yeah, we like BYU. Who do we not like?"
"We don't like the yellow team." (They were playing the 1989 Oregon game.)
"Yeah. But we like blue. The blue team is BYU."
"That's right. We like BYU."
"But we don't like the yellow team. Just blue."
"Uh-huh. Just blue. And who is blue?"
"BYU. Let's go cougars!" (She already had that one down from last season.)

Fast forward a couple of weeks. We were at some friends' house and noticed a world map posted on their wall. It has different colored pins for places where each member of the family has been. Sarah was asking who each of the colors were. When she asked, "Who is blue?" Ali got an excited look on her face and yelled "Blue? That's BYU!"

Later that same day, we were in the park and there was a soccer league game going on across the field. One of the teams had royal blue on and when she saw them, Ali yelled out, "Daddy, it's BYU playing soccer! We like BYU!".

The following Sunday, in church, Ali leaned over to Sarah while waiting for the meeting to start and said, "Momma, we like blue, but we don't like the Utes!" (I guess the guy sitting behind them had on a red tie.)

Ah, the moments that make a father proud...

Camping at Clear Lake

We went camping with some friends of ours over the 4th of July weekend. This was Alicyn's first ever camping experience and she absolutely loved it. The first time she walked into the tent she said, "It's just like heaven". (Boy, I hope not. I always thought heaven would have comfortable beds for all.) Ali did a great job with her potty training. I think she LIKED the outhouses because they don't have scary flushers. Of course, we roasted marshmallows but Ali was only interested in the raw ones so Mom and Dad didn't have to waste anytime roasting 'mallows for other people. On Saturday we spent time out on the lake fishing. All though we caught nothing, we had fun casting and reeling. The only trauma we experienced was when Ali discovered moths. She was absolutely terrified of them (think Sounds Oklahoma picnic times 20). She didn't like them flying around her and refused to be anywhere that they were. She was so paranoid that she thought the gnats were out to get her too. We've decided to go again on the first weekend in August so she can start getting over it.

Here are some pictures of the lake as it was on Friday evening. Here are Ali and Sarah enjoying dinner. Here are Ali and Dad chillin' and enjoying a King family camping tradition: red vines. Here we are on the boat. Though you can't always tell, Ali was all smiles.