At the Triple T...

cows

four-wheeling

horse riding

hard work

Great Grandpa Hyde

treasure hunts

cuteness

Grammy Anne

the Ranch.

Happy Birthday, Sophie!

You are our bright, sweet, happy, goofy, lovely little baby. We love you, Sophie!

Happy Birthday, Danny, and Welcome Home!

We love you and missed you very much! It's great to have you back!

While Danny was away...

I did yard work.

And as for our little ones...

Sophie felt rather poorly,

...and Melia felt--well, rather well, despite being sick too.

(...Is it just me, or are there glimpses of my sister, Audrey, in her?)

Here, Melia plays with her cousins (daughters of Scott and Karen), Lauren (nearly 2) and Ellie (4) at her birthday tea party.

And of course there is always a lot of fun at Grammy and Papa Hyde's house...

Plus we were lucky to have Sierra Grasteit (Brittney and Saul's daughter) join us on a craft day at Grammy's.

...Happy Birthday, Melia!

Danny is in China again

Population of China: 1.3 billion (20% world pop.)
(population of USA: 304 million)

This trip to China is his fourth trip in seven months.
He'll be back next week, on the night of Melia's birthday and the eve of his.

Here is Danny with his brother, Scott.
(this girl is done growing, yes the Chinese are really very short!)

This factory is making the linens for Danny's company.

Here, pillows are ready for packaging.

He visits many cities each time he goes. He found it amusing on his first trip when the first city he stayed in was considered small by its inhabitants. Upon further research, he discovered it only had 4 million people. Huh.

Did you know they have only had the 'one-child rule' for 30 years? The year they made the rule they had 563 million. With that rule in place, they have still doubled in 30 years. That is a fast doubling rate! This makes me start to understand what that drastic communist planning was about! Americans, at our present growth rate, won't double for another 100 years.

what we've been up to lately

This is us on a date in downtown Reno.



Below is our family picture just after the run (don't we all look lovely!). We are at Fernley High, which is right next to our subdivision. I have done a decent share of substitute teaching there during both of my pregnancies.

Here I am with my friend, Candy. She ran the 13 miles in 2:07, I did it in 2:16. That is what kind of gal she is... always inspiring me to work a little harder, be a little better. It was all her idea to run in the first place.

My sister-in-law, Karen, initially inspired me a few years ago to run a half marathon when she ran the full thing (you know, 26 miles!). I don't think I will ever be inspired by her or Candy or my friend Rachel to run a full marathon (you guys are all amazing, though!). I am just glad this day got me motivated to exercise again, it has been a couple of years.

Above is my cute man with my cute Soph (who got very sick later on).

Below Melia is playing with Candy's girls, Jacey and Kiera.
Thanks for the little dress, Beth and Samara!!

Then here below I am working on the tree during Gen. Conf. weekend...it's actually going to be like a year to be completely done! I think I improved the branches a little in my 15 hours of work! Ughh, and the leaves...oh what a mess!

Last week we took a day trip to Sacramento to satisfy my aforementioned, crazy need to "get out of dodge," as they say. Danny and I are trying really hard to start taking pictures of ourselves again. It is difficult to like doing it...we are so much older looking than before! Not to mention our after winter pasty, round look!

Melia's favorite animals were the monkeys playing peekaboo at her from a large sheet they were lying under to be shaded from the sun.

We had a great time. The girls loved to get out and so did we!

And...here is a bonus picture! The girls are just playing together in the morning sun.
Sorry, Soph--I couldn't resist!

I love Jane Austen

Take the Quiz here!

Dear Dolly

I have never considered myself to be a Dolly Parton fan.

My sister, Beth, and I grew up calling her "Dolly Apartment." We figured she could house our little barbie dolls in her chest, it was so large! I can't even bring myself to put a photo of her on my blog she looks so silly!

But I just have to blog and say that I was very touched by her very real performance on American Idol last week. It was surprising and special to me. I wouldn't blog it otherwise.

If you didn't see it, please click on the link and watch this 5 minute clip!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CC3SsJfjKo8

Beth had her baby!!

Welcome Jackson West Stroud, we are so excited to have you in the family!

Way to go, Bethany!

Sophie's Health Update

Sophie has practically snored since birth. And out of her ten months alive so far, I think she has been congested for 8 of them. I took her to the ENT Doctor and he said that her tonsils (and likely adenoids) are a size 3 on a scale of 1 to 4, 1 being normal size. So he says to plan on further action when she gets a little older. In the mean time I should watch for Sleep Apnea. That is when, while she is sleeping, she holds her breath for 5 seconds or more. I have only noticed her doing it for 2-3 seconds so far. And I think it is allergy related...which brings me to the allergy update.

I weaned her last week. I felt that she needed to be on a stricter diet so as to more reliably avoid any milk products weezling their way into her body from mine. She loves the soy formula. You should see how excited she gets to watch me prepare it. She loooves when I warm the water first in the microwave. She always wants to peer through the glass at the rotating cup of water. She holds the bottle like a champ, too. She doesn't even miss me. Crazy. Anyway. We went and saw the allergist today. He said she may have a more serious condition than the average milk allergy which is outgrown within 2-3 years. They will run some tests next week. I'll keep you posted.