Empty House

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Sarah and Grandma Marcoccia as they were starting their adventure driving back to NY. It is never easy saying goodbye, so I always try to focus on when we will see them again and remind myself of the good times we had over the visit. We will see them again soon in October when Jill and Larry get married.

I think Sarah was ready to leave and get back to NY and her new apartment, friends, and job. It was fun having her here all month. I know it was good for Ellie. She loved waking her up in the morning with smiles and hugs. We loved having Grandma Marcoccia here, too. She has so much energy. I wish I could steal away just a little bit of it. So glad Ellie got to show her all she is doing now like the babble, crawling, and playing. Our little house felt very empty yesterday and last night with out them. Needless to say, we are missing our guests very much and looking forward to the next visit when we can see the whole family.

Love you all…

For more picnic photos look here…

Ohhh Sarah

Heber Valley Fun

Grandma Marcoccia arrived yesterday after spending the night in the Denver airport (Ugh Wish we could have scheduled better). She is a trooper though and although we tried to get her to nap with Ellie she couldn’t settle so we took her out and experienced Heber.

First up the Heber Creeper… We did the short ride out to Deer Creek and back. It was a fun ride with excellent views of the valley and I must say right now is the perfect time to go while everything is still green and lush and the flowers are abundant. It is a classic Heber Valley experience.

For more pictures of the train ride go here.

Next… We discovered the Heber Valley Pow Wow at Soldier Hollow. Another great event with lots of singing, dancing, and drumming. I got a little picture happy but I couldn’t help it the dancing was so awesome and the kids so cute. Wish we could have stayed longer.

For more pictures go here.

Dinosaurs

Sarah, Ellie and I took a day trip up to Ogden’s Dinosaur Park. We met up Grandma McKenney, Aunt Laurie, Summer, and the boys. It was a lot of fun and I must say I was impressed with the park…a great place for kids. The boys were a ton of fun to watch they kept pointing and saying “SaurSaur” for dinosaur of course. We walked through one trail with lots of scary creatures and Parker had a tight grip on Aunt Laurie’s hand. Summer was fun as well, she even knew some of the names before we got to read about them and find out who they were. By the end of the day Ellie was showing off her new trick of growling. She just started that this week, and it was a perfect place to let loose with all the background dinosaur noises and such.

Summer was a good sport and posed for this photo opportunity…

To top the day off we had an excellent sunset last night. I love our view of the Wasatch back! Check it out…

Many Things

So, due to my lack of organization and highly developed ability to procrastinate I have a plethora of subjects to blab or blog about.

First up, I have to gush a little over our wee one who is growing like a weed. Seems we blinked our eyes and she hit some milestones. She is now enjoying feeding herself Cheerios. Gary and I are so entertained by this as we watch her study it then pinch it and bring it up to her mouth and get it in there every three or four tries. Chip and Adah are grateful for the new source of crumbs to mop up. This has also brought on a new daily ritual of vacuuming the house sometimes twice a day as she does not discern a piece of dirt carried in by the dogs from a Cheerio. Oh those dogs… She is now pointing at things too, which is nice to get clued in on some of her wants and makes Daddy’s heart melt when she points at him and then gives a big hug and tries to leap into his arms. She has finally overcome the challenge of sleeping through the night. Let me say this was the hardest obstacle I have ever delt with. Many many middle of the night melt downs by all three of us. We as first time parents made a few mistakes or created some habits, but Ellie is proving that she can adjust and we are learning that consistency is the key. Ellie is proving to be very strong as well she is pulling her self up to her feet and getting around the house very quickly thus keeping us on our toes. We’ve had a few incidents with a plant and the screen door but (knock on wood) were lucky and came through with no harm minus a beat up plant. She is also enjoying her bedtime routine of reading a book and is turning the pages of her favorite board book with a lot of enthusiasm and gusto. Finally she has picked up on giving things “hugs and loves” this mostly applies to her collection of stuffed animal and every once in a while she will lavish mom and dad with some “loves” as well. Whew, I am a gushing Mommy.

Next up… June has officially been deemed the month of Sarah. Gary’s youngest sister is full filling her adventurous spirit and drove across the country from NY to come stay with us for awhile. She arrived on Saturday and will be staying until the end of the month after Grandma Marcoccia comes out for a visit and they continue the adventure on back to NY. We are thrilled to have Sarah stay with us. She brings a much welcomed break to our daily routine. Ellie and I now have a cohort for our shopping, hiking, and playing adventures and Gary has another person to tease and pick on. Gary and Sarah also have this long running thing about coming up with the nastiest collections like scab cereal or farts in jars. Some kind of a sibling ritual I don’t know. Anyway, things are working out well for her. She has already managed to get a temporary job helping out a friend with her landscaping business and we are working up some ideas for different projects here in Timberlakes. I’m thrilled to have Sarah here in fact this morning I spied her guitar and can’t wait to sit out on the porch in the evening and listen to her share her talent. Sarah has a very creative spirit that seems to be contagious when she is around.

Finally… We had another visitor the other morning. He was cruising through the neighborhood seeing who had the best trees to nibble on. He noted the real estate sign at the top of the driveway. That’s the most interest we’ve seen on our house so far. Sigh…

Ba Buh Ba Ba

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This is Ellie’s latest evening dinner time performance. She had us cracking up last night with the crazy noises she was making with that plump bottom lip and the faces to go a long with it. Notice the shirt? That’s one of the projects that came out of the “snow day sew day“. Need to trim up the ties on the shoulders other than that love it. That print makes me want to go out and get a VW bus so bad.

Back in the Saddle again

It’s been a while since my last update. We took a little trip back to NY to visit with our family and do some house hunting. The family visiting was marvelous. Ellie entertained everyone and showed off her new skills. Gary got to celebrate his birthday three times this year once with Ellie and I out to dinner, once with my parents, and once with his family. He is a well loved individual. We got to visit with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins at Jessica’s wedding. What a beautiful wedding it was! The setting was perfect at a winery up on the hill overlooking a classic New York Finger Lakes landscape. We had so much fun watching the kiddos dance their hearts out and the ladies in the family as well. We also got to enjoy another trip to the Ithaca Farmers Market. Ellie got a fab T-Shirt from the Sundancer Designs Clothing Co. We also picked up some purple asparagus and a gorgeous white bleeding heart for Linda. So fun..

As for the house hunting we did good. We familiarized ourselves with the Ithaca area much better. We managed to narrow down our choices and pretty much came to the conclusion that we are in love with the village of Trumansburg. It is practically Mayberry reincarnate. We also learned that NY’s taxes are unbelievably high and painful. (We knew this, but just didn’t digest it until now) Yikes! We have decided to attempt a contingency offer on a cute little turn of the century farm house just out of the Trumansburg village. It sits on nearly 6 acres mostly wooded with trails and has a lovely distant view of the lake. It is a small house with a few imperfections but oh so cozy and warm and inviting and the property is so wonderful. So wish us luck. We still haven’t gotten any bites on our Timberlakes home for sale here in Utah but we are being patient and just keep trying to put good thoughts out there into the cosmic soup.

Ellie did good on the airplane. She got a bit fussy at times and tired of being held and the tight spaces but no major tantrums. On the way back we experienced the dreaded diaper blow out so we now join the ranks with Kim and Charie and the mile high diaper duty. I had to throw away the onsie and all! Nasty. She actually had quiet a few adventures, 6 plus full days of car rides and car seat confinement, 4 airplane rides, a two hour time change, a bonk on the forehead from a toy, and the porch swing breaking under her and Grandma Marcoccia. Well done Ellie your a trooper.