In Memory Of

My grandmother's sister, Elaine, passed away last week. My grandma asked if I would put together an arrangement for today's services. I was a bit nervous, as my experience has really only extended to weddings, but my grandma said she trusted me and I could do what I wanted. (It's always nice to get those creative juices flowing). Each occasion brings something new to learn and I was grateful for the opportunity to try something new. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out and probably wouldn't mind doing another one. It was definitely less stressful than a wedding and not near as time consuming.

Hat Dance

I’m not sure when or how it began. Maybe it was in our attempts to coax Emily into wearing her baseball cap and we used it as a distraction. But whatever we did, it stuck. Whenever there is music on and we start dancing, Emily inevitably runs to her room shouting “Hat! Hat!” Once it is on her head she races back to the music and all is well till her dancing techniques shift the hat enough that she can’t see or it falls off and all dancing stops till it’s back on. (This picture shows her attempts at putting it back on.) With or without the hat though, Emily knows how to shake it. One of these days I will stop waiting on Jeff to download the video to the computer and I’ll just figure it out so you can all see her go. She moves her hips better than I do. Which I don’t know if that’s really saying much. But it’s still cute.

Head to Toe

Sunday we had a Newman party at my Grandparents house. I was chatting it up at the table with my sisters when I looked up and saw Jackson (my nephew that’s Emily’s age) climbing the stairs. In that quick glance I saw him slip and start to fall. I leapt (seriously) out of my chair and tried to move another out of the way so I could catch him before he tumbled too far and hit his head on the tile floor. However, my attempts were foiled by the table leg. I couldn’t slide the chair under the table further than it already was and therefore my body – which was already in motion – didn’t have time to recalculate the idea of going around the chair. I ended up tripping over the chair completely bruising my left foot and ankle. Thankfully the wall was close and I was able to reach out and catch myself – or who knows what mess I would have ended up in. Jackson meanwhile, managed to recover after the initial slip and went on happily playing on the stairs – completely oblivious to my leg-breaking act.

Sometimes I just can't keep Emily's hands out of her hair. On Sunday she pulled out her ponytail and bow... breaking the elastic so I couldn't fix it. The rest of the night she ran around with her hair flopping from one side to the other. We called it the "Rooster Do."

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Elder Chris Newman!!

We hope you have a great day. Keep up the good work.

Baptism

After Special Olympics we drove up to Kaysville for my nephew’s baptism. Sam is the oldest grandkid and therefore the first to turn eight and get baptized. Jenny & Ryan put together a really nice program and it was fun to see Ryan’s family again. We’re really impressed with how mature Sam is. He’s a great kid and we’re excited for him. I can’t believe he’s already this old. Time really does fly. Before I know it, it will be our turn – which is a nice thought when I think of how Emily and I struggle to communicate sometimes, but sad when I think of her not being my little girl anymore.

Fear Nothing

Last Friday and Saturday were spent up on campus with Special Olympics. This was our fifth year being on the GOC (Games Organizing Committee) so we were able to see a lot of old friends and also meet some new ones. Friday was full of the usual craziness. When lunch was supposed to be starting we found out that it was double-booked for Saturday and we didn’t have anyone scheduled for Friday. Jeff’s parents were kind enough to let us drop Emily off for the rest of the day while he ran around with other GOC members frantically clearing out all of the Little Caesar’s Pizza’s near the U and I stayed on campus filling in where I was needed. After things calmed down it was realized that we had a ton of extras. We loaded 40 pizzas on a golf cart and drove around handing out free pizza. We went up to the PT school and gave out several up there. There were some 1st year Med students in the building studying for a test so they were excited to get some too. It was probably the most fun we had. I’m sure we looked pretty strange driving around in matching t-shirts asking people if they wanted free pizza. But it didn't stop them from accepting it.

Emily was of course a huge hit with SOUT, GOC, volunteers, athletes & coaches. The above athlete saw her and said “Let’s go get some cotton candy” and off they went. Jeff was right behind them and was quick to suggest popcorn instead of cotton candy. Emily had more than enough treats those two days. She was also absolutely in love with the golf carts and we couldn't walk past one without her wanting to get on. As previously mentioned Emily is quite the little dancer and while up there she displayed her talent for all to see. Once she got up on the dance floor we couldn’t get her away.

Since we’ve been involved so long, when it comes to athletes we definitely have a few favorites. This is Jeremy and he is a very good bocce player and actually quite a big flirt. I don’t know how many times I was asked if I was going to be at the dance – and he wasn’t the only one who asked. The dance is always everyone’s favorite event. There are several more athletes that we always have a good time with and enjoy hearing about how they won their medals. Yet again we were unable to watch any swimming though. I guess there's always next year, right?

Good job Tyler & Mallory. It was a great games and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves (even though you couldn't get Emily a t-shirt). Thanks for letting us be on your committee!

"I Love to see the Temple..."

Emily loves the temple. She will run from room to room in the house pointing at all the pictures we have. Since she is so fascinated with it right now we decided it was time to take a trip downtown. Our hour long trip turned into a three hour ordeal as we walked the grounds, saw the temple up close and far away, splashed in water fountains, smelled the flowers and chased Emily all over. We even fit in a tour of the conference center and saw the view from the roof. It was a really pleasant day and we saw a gorgeous sunset. The outing was a nice addition to the conference weekend and a great way to start Jeff’s week long "siesta". Hallelujah for fall break!

Pumpkin Patch

After conference on Sunday we went to pick out pumpkins with all the Newman’s. Emily was ready for dinner so she wasn’t in the best mood and I think we took almost 200 pictures because we were struggling to get a decent picture of her. All I can say is thank heavens for digital cameras (and for a good one that has continuous snapshot – otherwise we wouldn’t have even had a good one in the end). Trying to get a picture of all the cousins/grandkids was the worst and even with all of our efforts this one was pretty much the best one – which isn’t saying much. Oh well, I guess there’s always next year. Thanks Lyle for all the pumpkins!!!

General Conference

We really looked forward to conference weekend. I don’t know if it’s because Jeff was going to be home for all of it or if it was the actual conference itself - but either way it was a good weekend. On Saturday Emily pretty much let us watch everything and did very well at watching herself. She always got excited when President Hinckley was speaking and whenever they showed the temple. We went up to Gma & Gpa Johnson’s during the priesthood session and Emily loved exploring their new house (and had a hay day because it wasn’t baby proofed). Sunday Emily mostly played with her cell phone as we tried to listen. (Her playing with her phone consisted of her holding it to her shoulder and walking from one end of the family room to the other as she said “hi” over and over and over). All in all we thought it was a great conference this year and we’re excited for President Eyring (he’s my favorite to listen to) and to get to know the new Apostle, Quentin L. Cook.

Haunted House

Lately Emily’s new favorite game is putting her blanket over her head and walking around the house. Of course we’ve had a few crying episodes when she’s run into the wall or a chair, but for the most part she’s pretty good about navigating her way around. It actually amazes me. The other day she was having a good old time chasing me around the house and trying to “find me” as I called her name from across the room. Emily is such a character!