Monkeys and Ladybugs

Thailand 2011

2011-09-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably know by now that Helen and I recently had the opportunity to go on a work trip/mini-vacation to Thailand. The company I work for - Tahitian Noni International - had an event in Thailand and I was fortunate enough to be able to go and help put it on. Since the company was paying my way, we decided to save up and pay for Helen to be able to go, too. We flew in a few days before the event and then stayed for a few days after.
All in all, it was an incredible trip. We had an amazing time. My dad, or Papa George, was kind enough to come and stay with the children for the 10 days or so that we were gone.
Obviously we have tons and tons of photos from this trip and we wanted to share them with everyone. But instead of going through photo by photo and trying to decide which ones to put up, we decided to put together a short video about our first trip abroad. Hope you like it.

I'm from the LOU and I'm proud!

2011-06-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

Fun time in St. Louis this past March! (I know it's taken awhile) We had such a great time with all of our family and friends! Wish we were closer! Someday. Love you all in the LOU!

Where has the time gone

2011-06-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the last five months!

We had stake conference, which meant no nursery class for Charlotte. So in order for us to get her home we said she could have nursery at home. So cute, Huh?

It snowed again which meant we could build more snow men! Charlotte is really into families(grouping things together) right now. So of course we had to make a family.

This is what brothers are for, right?

Scott got a new position at Tahitian Noni as the Global Recognition Manager! One of the perks is that he gets to travel. Poor thing, had to go a cruise!

We missed him, but we had your own fun! This is one reason why I had children...

to play dress up!

I was released from Young Women's Program this March. I've missed seeing the girl's every week, hearing their funny stories and working with amazing women.

Scott taught a painting class with the Beehive class. We had a great time!

Scott and I at the Jazz vs. Celtic game! It was a great game. The jazz lost, but I really wasn't surprised. I was amazed of how many Celtic fans were there. I had to asked Scott a couple of times if we were in Boston.

We also went to the Jazz Vs. Suns game and awesome seats (perks of Scott's job). We were so close to the Sun's bench, which was great, because Raja Bell or "my boyfriend" (that's what Scott calls him) was playing. I think he’s really a good lookin' man. It was such a blast! We were on the Jumbotron, Twice!

Siblings!

2011-02-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

Charlotte:

It is so much fun to have an almost three year old in the home. It is such a fun age, and stage. The things that she says and does make us laugh everyday!

George:

To cute! Everywhere!

Christmas with kids!

2011-01-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas at our home this year. The last statement usually means I'm sad all day, due to the fact that I'm not in St. Louis with my family, but this year was completely different. The Christmas season was filled with joy and excitement from my little girl Charlotte. It was so fun watching her enjoying the holiday. Watching her open gifts and her excitement giving her brother his gift that she picked out. Opening presents took even longer this year, because Charlotte wanted to play with every present before she could open the next one.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning at the Fuhriman Home!

The Doctor is in!

The red clock that Scott and Charlotte looked all over town for to give to George. That's what she wanted to give her five month little brother.

Scott got tickets to see the Utah Jazz play Boston Celtics. Awesome!

George's quilt that I made for him. It's made from Scott's, my dad, Scott's dad, and my Pop's dress shirts.

Happy Late Thanksgiving

2010-12-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

We're a few weeks late, but we wanted to share with everyone some of the things we're particularly thankful for this Thanksgiving.

-We're thankful for dear friends that invited us to spend the holiday with them in San Francisco.

-We're thankful for terrible weather which forced us to take a longer, more scenic route.
-We're thankful that we could go see all of the fishies at the Monteray Bay Aquarium.

-We're thankful that Charlotte has a fun little friend and that they love to share...everything.
-We're thankful that Charlotte threw up her entire Thangsgiving dinner giving us an opportunity to see it again and be reminded of how delicious it was going down the first time.
-We're thankful for a car that breaks down in the middle of the road, giving George and his Dad a fun opportunity to do something really manly: push a car across an intersection and a lane of traffic into a Walgreens parking lot.

-We're thankful for AAA for towing our car to a garage for free.

-We're thankful for our friends' parents who graciously agree to let us stay in their home for an extra 2 days.

-We're thankful for Chevy's wisdom in creating very inexpensive parts that cannot be purchased seperately from other really expensive parts, forcing us to pay hundreds of dollars even though the part that was broken only cost around $3.

-We're also thankful for Chevy for not having those parts available anywhere between California and Michigan which meant we would get to extend our vacation even more while we waited for them to ship!

-We're thankful for our friends' parents who graciously agreed to let us stay in their home for another 3 days more.

-We're thankful for my boss and school teacher who are patient and understanding.

-We're thankful that Charlotte started feeling better after 36 hours of throwing up.

-We're thankful that with the 3 extra days we were finally able to actually have a good time with our friends.

-We're thankful that we got to go see the ocean and play on the beach.

-We're thankful that we got to go see the redwood trees.

-We're thankful that we got to go see the migrating monarch butterflies.

-We're thankful that we got to go see the lights of San Franciso.

-We're thankful that when we picked up the car, the garage was kind enough to knock $30 off the total - that's a 2% savings!

-We're thankful that we could finally drive home safely with our extraordinarily well behaved children. (Seriously, our kids are the best traveling kids in the world. They slept almost the whole time!)

-And most of all, we're thankful for our dear friends, our friends' parents, and our parents for helping us and supporting us through it all.

-We're thankful that somehow this honestly turned out to be one of the most memorable and enjoyable Thanksgivings we've ever had.

My sweet girl

2010-11-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my sweet Charlotte just made me smile all day long. It's amazing how much she has grown. I just wanted to share a couple of things that Charlotte does to make me smile.

*she loves everything- there is not a day that goes by where Charlotte doesn't say how she "loves something. Her cup, cheese, random objects around the house, and she always tells us that she loves her boy".

*yesterday I was finishing dinner and George was getting fussy so I asked Charlotte to read him a book. She grabbed "Going on a Bear Hunt" and started to "read" it. We read it all the time, so she has it memorized the story. It was so awesome to hear her reading the story to her brother. Scott, stop painting to hear read to George too. She is on her way to being a great reader.

*she was playing last night in the kitchen with old spice containers and of course they turned into little characters. I was listening to her talk to them, and it went a little like this:

Charlotte-"Michael jump into the nest! Be careful!"

Mom-"Who is Michael?"

Charlotte- "My friend?"

Later at dinner Scott and I were trying to figure out where the name Michael came from. We asked Charlotte she said, "from dad's special book"

We finally figured out that it is from one of Scott's children books that only mommy and daddy read to her. She is just so smart.

Just a few moments I wanted to share, mainly I just don't want to forget.

Fuhriman Family Fun!

2010-11-15T13:17:00.000-08:00

(I've been waiting for Scott to do this post, but I'm not sure when he'll get around to doing it.)

Sooo...

After George's blessing we all(the Fuhriman clan)went to Boise, Idaho for my nephews Brant and Diego's Eagle Scout Projects. They rebuilt and rededicated a monument that their uncles did twenty-five years ago. We are super proud of both of them, it turned out out awesome!

It was a great week and we made a lot of great memories. Here are my favorite pictures from the week.

He is just so handsome!

Grandchildren, 18 out of 23. I think that's right?

George takes after his Uncle Tim

Nancy was one of my young women's leaders as a teen. It was so great to see her and her family.

Oh please, stop.

Next time all eight children get to together I vote on hiring a Professional Photographer. Maybe then we'll have everyone's face in view! (Bob)

And all of this happened because two people fell in love. Aren't they cute?

Three Months!

2010-11-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

George is such a good baby. Here's what he's been up to:

-Every once in while I can get him to giggle really loud, which is just the cutest thing ever.

-He still loves to cuddle, which is one of my favorite things too.

-He has grown out of all of his 3 month old sleepers.

-He no longer has chicken legs, just a bunch of rolls.

-He coos at people he loves.

-He grunts in his sleep.

-He grunts when he's awake.

-And he does like it when his clothes don't have poop on them, so he has a blow out diaper at least once a day.

He's a keeper!

Happy Halloween...Go Crazy Folks!

2010-10-31T23:51:00.000-07:00

Charlotte got to pick what she wanted to be for Halloween and she decided on a bird. But not just any bird, the most important bird...a cardinal!

So since she was a cardinal it was natural that George would be a baseball!
We took her tricker treating and she loved it! "I love halloween party, Mom!" Charlotte would run up to the door, practically let herself into the home to get the candy and then say, "thank you" on her way out.

The kids with their candy ! (mom and dad's candy)

George's Blessing

2010-10-10T21:06:00.001-07:00

It was a special day for George, today at church on 10-10-10 he was given a name and a blessing by his daddy. We are blessed to have our sweet little George Patrick in our family.

The two Georges'

George and Scott got matching ties for the special day.

Thanks to all of the family and friends that were able to come and for all of your help. It was so nice to be surounded by our loved ones.

2 months...

2010-10-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

And he is Mister Smiles!

George is such a sweet, happy, and bright eyed baby. He's the perfect addition!

Photo Shoot with Mom!

2010-10-01T14:16:00.001-07:00

I was inspired today...by my friend's blog . So I got my camera, my beautiful children and took some pictures. I'm really happy with my afternoon project.

Baby Boy

2010-09-22T12:55:00.001-07:00

Charlotte wore this sleeper at 3 months. Not George, 6 weeks was all he needed.

This was the last Sunday for both of their outfits. Charlotte dress looked like she was from the Brady Bunch and George's little suit almost didn't button. Both outfits I'm sad to put away!

The Zuga Fairy

2010-09-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

She came and took the zugas to little babies all over the world. She called us and told us that babies in China, Germany, New York and St. Louis are happy now because Charlotte gave her Zugas away.

Last picture of zuga time with baby brother.

Charlotte has only used her zugas in bed for the last couple of months and has been really good about it. I've been putting off calling the Zuga Fairy for while, maybe because I wasn't ready. But it was time, so I gave her a call and she came that night. The whole day we talked about how she was coming that night and how she was going to give them to little babies. Charlotte was so excited. She picked out a bag to put them in and put them on the front door. Then we did our little nightly routine and tucked her in and said good night. As we turn to leave she said, "I need my luga." (she calls it a luga) Tears were shed, but we made it through the night. (Just Charlotte, but I was close.) In the morning Charlotte found a new dress for her Barbie! The whole day she told everyone that she got a new barbie AND dress. Doesn't she know the Zuga Fairy is cheap. Charlotte is doing really well and only asks every once in awhile for her "luga". We are so proud of our big girl.

One Month!

2010-09-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

What we have learned about George in one month...
He can grunt his alphabet.
He loves to take baths.
He has chicken legs.
He loves to snuggle.
He doesn't like to sleep in his bed.
He likes to tickle Charlotte. Or at least when he touches her she thinks he's tickling her.
He is off the charts in length.
He makes the goofiest faces.
He makes us so happy.

What we have learned about having two kids this past month...
It's a lot harder to go any where.
It takes us forever to get out of the house.
We are changing diapers, constantly.
Scott and I feel even older than before.
That we love having family time.
Our kids make us love each other even more.

Thanks MeMe...we miss you! Please come back soon!

2010-08-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

My mom came for baby George's birth and then to help take care of her "baby". It was so great to have her help us out with cooking, cleaning and keeping Miss Charlotte busy. This time around I recovered a lot quicker, so we were able to go out and have some fun together. We enjoyed going to the art museum for a quilt show, shopping and going to eating Sushi!!! I hope my mom had a good time. I don't know how she couldn't with such cute grand children. Here are some pictures from the last two weeks!

ZUGA Babies!

The joys of having a boy!

Thanks mom for taking care of me and my family. I love you!

Welcome home George!

2010-08-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

George Patrick Fuhriman has arrived! He was born Sunday, August 8, 2010. He was 8 lbs, 4 ounces and 21 inches long. He has ten fingers, ten toes and one...well, he's definitely a boy! It's probably a little too soon to be sure, but his eyes look like they'll be blue and he's got a tiny bit of dark brown hair.

Now here's how it happened...

AS many of you know, the baby wasn't due to be born until August 11--which is tomorrow. Helen's mom, Lorie, came into town on Thursday, August 5th to help out with everything going on. At about 8:30 on Saturday night we were all hanging out at the house, and Helen decided she'd like to invite some friends over to watch a movie. (One of these friends happens to be a Massage Therapist, and Helen thought it might be nice to have a little foot rub.) As Helen was walking out the door to go invite the Skinners over, Charlotte started to cry and Helen turned to see what the problem was. As she turned around, Helen lost her footing on our stairs and started to fall. She grabbed hold of a stroller that happened to be right outside our house and of course the stroller rolled out from under her leaving her sprawled on the cement driveway. Lorie heard the fall and went running outside where 4 or 5 of our neighbor kids were standing there with their jaws on the floor--totally speechless. I came out and we helped Helen up. She told us that the brunt of the fall was on her arms and her legs but she did land on her tummy. After some deep thought and a quick call to the nurse's hotline, Helen and I decided to leave Charlotte here with MeMe Lorie and go to the hospital--just to make sure everything was alright.

We got to the hospital at about 10:00 pm and the nurses hooked Helen up to a bunch of machines to make sure everything was alright. They told us they didn't think anything was wrong, but that they'd like to watch us for an hour and then call our doctor to see what he'd like to do. After an hour they came back and told us that our doctor decided to keep her at the hospital for observation for 6 hours following her fall, which meant we'd be there until 2:30 am. Helen and I both tried to get some sleep and then at about 3:00 am they came and told us that our doctor had called and told the nurses that he was planning on being at the hospital that day anyway, and if it was okay with us, he'd be happy to go ahead and induce Helen now instead of waiting until Wednesday!

By this time, Helen and I had been at the hospital for about 5 hours already so we decided to go for it! They put her on some medicine to induce labor and about 6 and a half hours later, she was ready to have the baby. After about 5 minutes of pushing, George was born at 9:54 am. Pretty crazy turn of events, but we were thrilled to have George here three days early! And let's face it, 8/8/10 is much easier to remember than 8/11/10, so that was a bonus.

We're not sure if Charlotte really understands what's going on, but she seems to like spending time with her little brother. We're all at home now, and everyone seems to be doing really well.

Helen was absolutely amazing through it all. She never paniced and she handled labor like a real champ. And she looked absolutely gorgeous every step of the way.

We're really excited to have George in our little family. Special thanks to MeMe Lorie who has been a huge help through all of this, Auntie Darci and Cousin Wendy who both helped with transportation and taking care of Charlotte while we were in the hospital, and to all of our friends and family who have sent their love and congratulations. We can't wait for all of you to be able to meet this little guy in person.

Summer time and I look like I'm going to pop!!

2010-08-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

I thought I would put some cute pictures of Charlotte to lighten the blow of the mass at the end! Love you all! ONE more week, until baby boy makes his debut!

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the 4th with cousins!
Charlotte with her girl cousins!

Bathing Beauty!

2010-06-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

My Cute baby enjoying the summer!

Five years with my best friend

2010-06-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

June 11th we celebrated our five year anniversary! These past five years have flown by and we have had a blast enjoy the great moments together. I'm grateful to be married to my best friend, who understands me (well most days). We spent our anniversary between Salt Lake and Park City. We were planning on a fun trip somewhere different this year, but with me being pregnant and a trip to St. Louis that weren't planning on we decided to keep it local. We still had a great time walking around in Salt Lake and enjoying new places in the rain. It seems it always rains on our anniversary. I guess to remind us of our wedding day, which it poured off and on all day. Despite the rain, Scott and I made the best of the situation. We found this cool antique store in Salt Lake. I wanted so many pieces for my home, but then I remember that we are getting rid of things to make room for the new little one. I can't wait to have a home!

One great perk was that Scott recieved a free night stay at the Grand American Hotel from work. We love freebies!

I love this guy!

Notes from a woman at 32 weeks!

2010-06-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

So I'm feeling a little guilty at the moment. I posted so much about Charlotte before she was born, and with kid number TWO I've done little to nothing for on him. I just wanted to write how excited Scott and I are to bring a new little person into our home. I will say that I'm nervous as all get out in having TWO KIDS and that the second one is a BOY. I don't know much about having little boys around. I watch them everywhere I go and all they do is RUN. Ahhh! I know this little guy is busy one, so much different than Charlotte was in the womb. As nervous as I'm about raising a little boy, I'm truly excited to have a SON. To see who he looks like, to smell the new baby smell again, to cuddle with him, and well just to see how different boys and girls really are. It will be interesting to see how Charlotte adjusts to having a brother. We talk about him everyday, and she has felt him move a couple times. I know she really has no idea what is going on, but it's so cute to hear her talk about her brother.

I only have two more months to go, which is crazy. This pregnancy has gone super fast. I feel a little more prepared for this one. Mainly because I've done it before. I have his clothes already in his dresser, okay so that's All I can think of right at the moment, but for me that is amazing. We bought a pack n' play for this little guy to put in our room for the first few weeks. I wanted to get a bassinet, but after doing my research I just felt like it was a better investment. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it has exactly what I needed it to have...a bassinet and it's portable.

Their are a couple of things I would like have done before the baby comes. First, Charlotte's kitchen. I started on a play kitchen for her, but then April was a blur and it's still sitting in my kitchen. If you have a jig saw, call me! Second a yard sale, which we are doing this Saturday. I've be going around the house and purging. My friend Melissa would be so proud of me. I getting rid of the big blue chair in Charlotte's room. It's not the prettiest chair, but it's comfortable. I love this chair and have fought for it a couple times and won, but this time I just don't know where we are gong to keep it. I love reading to Charlotte in it and it was great when I was nursing, but I won't be able to fit two kids in the room with it. SAD! And third really isn't that big of a deal just get my house in order! Hahaha! It really won't take to long to pick up and clean everything in my house. The only thing is that I have no energy, but it will get done.

Well there's what going through my head this morning.

St. Louis Sweet St. Louis!

2010-05-21T09:19:00.001-07:00

Our time spent in St. Louis was bitter sweet, but much more sweet than bitter.
Sweet....Family pictures!

Bitter...allergies!!!

Sweet...time with Nana and Papa!

(How cute is this kid?)
Bitter...Scott only being able to stay a couple of days! Also that he had to drive back alone. Poor guy!

Sweet...gardening with Pop!

Sweet...going to a party with Ellen and having so much fun blowing "flowers"!

Sweet...going to Ted Drew's when ever my pregnant self wanted to!!!! Yeah EIGHT times, while I was there! I could really go for a blueberry concrete right now!
Bitter...the crazy storms in St. Louis!
Sweet...riding out the storm with Grandma Jan in her bathroom!
Sweet...St.Louis Cardinals! My first time at the new stadium! Awesome seats, care of my awesome brother Jeremy!

Sweet...my three dates for the night!
Sweet...my cute dad!Bitter...not having Scott with me!
Sweet...going to the Zoo with the grandpas!

Bitter...remembering why I was in St. Louis.
Sweet...going to Auntie Cate's Dance Recital!

Sweet...going to Stake n' Shake afterwards! (Went there a couple of times too!)

Sweet...watching my nephew play tee ball! Which I might have to blog about sepretly, because it was one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile.

Sweet...being silly with Meme!

Sweet...hanging out with my sisters!

Sweet...taking Charlotte to the Science Center!

Bitter....Charlotte being deathly afraid of the dinosaurs!

Sweet...my mom and sister's threw a shower for me. The decorations were so cute!

Sweet...my mom's strawberry dip!

Sweet...spending time with family.

Bitter...saying, "good bye"!
Sweet...coming home to Scott!

To my Pop

2010-04-30T11:13:00.001-07:00

My sweet Pop Richard passed away on April 12th, 2010. He was such a wonderful grandfather and friend to me. Pop was a very funny man. He always made you laugh at life. Out of all the grandchildren, I spent the most time with him because he would babysit me when I was a child. Many hours were spent with him as he sang silly songs. We would eat Ritz's crackers. He always had stains on his ties and make new ones when we would go out to eat. When I was younger he smoked a pipe. I would always hide his tobacco. He would get so mad, when he couldn't find it. When I was in elementary school I would go to his home before school and eat breakfast. I loved spending those morning with him and my Grandma Jan. School just seem to go better when we had breakfast together. He always supported us, even if he didn't agree or understand. He loved my husband and thought the world of my sweet Charlotte.

I'm so grateful to have had such a loving grandfather. The things I'll miss most is hearing his voice calling me "Miss Helen" and his soft white hair. I loved playing with it. He will be greatly missed by all of his friends, and family. The wonderful thing is, I know I will see him again and that brings me peace.

So here's to to you, Pop; my button collecting, bag folding, treat eating, and banana head friend, I'll miss you. I'll keep your legacy going by treating others with kindness, putting family first and laughing when ever I can. Love you.

A Big Cheesy Birthday!

2010-04-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

For Charlotte's birthday we took her to Chuck E. Cheese!

Cheesy birthday girl with her cousin "Yoyo"!

She got birthday balloons and a bear from my Aunt Linda aka Linda the Great!

Ode to Charlotte Mae!

2010-04-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

My sweet little Charlotte is two today! What a year it has been! Charlotte has changed so much, both physically and developmentally. Both Scott and I are in awe of her everyday. Each day she is doing something new and making us laugh with her personality. Here are some picture's of this past year!

Oh sweet big girl how we love you! You make us laugh, you make us grin, and bring us pure joy. We are excited for this coming year to watch you grow and learn. Thanks Miss Mae for being ours.

We love you!

Mom and Dad

Scott's New Website...

2010-04-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited to announce that I finally have a full-fledged website that's up and running. You can find it at www.rscottfuhriman.com. The site has a blog on it so I won't be using rafascottart.blogspot.com anymore. If you're one of the lovely people who has bookmarked my blog, or put it in your link list or something like that (first of all, thank you so much for doing that, but) please replace that link with a new link to www.rscottfuhriman.com.

I'm super excited about this site. I think it will allow me to promote myself a little better and it's definitely a more professional way to get my name out there. Thank you again to all of you who follow and support me in my little dream. I hope you like the new site!

My wife is great...and gorgeous, too!

2010-03-12T16:41:00.001-08:00

As most of you, Helen does a pretty good job keeping our family's blog up to date. I, on the other hand do not help keep it upto date, nor do I even read it as often as I should. I just read the post from Helen from Valentine's Day and I feel like a big dork because I've never read it before now and therefore have never acknowledged the nice things she said about me.
So, honey, you're welcome for all of those things. I'll dance with you anytime you want, and don't worry about the house--besides you and me (and everyone who reads our blog) no one even knows it's in disarray.
You're the best. And you're smokin' hot, too!

Locks of Love!

2010-03-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

Well I did it, I donated my hair to Locks of Love! I've always wanted to do it, but I never let my hair get long enough. I really loved my long hair, but I was ready for a change. I was tired of finding my hair all over the house, getting things in my hair, and Charlotte always getting it her month. I donated ten inches!!

I love it! It takes like two minutes to blow dry!

PHOTO SHOOT

2010-03-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

Scott is in school again, so that means he needs reference pictures for him to paint. So as a family we headed down to BYU campus studio to take pictures. I just thought they were funny so I thought I would share.

Charlotte is doing her model face!

Scott has been working on smiling with his eyes!

Guess What?

2010-02-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

Yup, child number two will be making it's debut in August 2010!

Dinner and Dancing? Well at least I'm with you!

2010-02-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

We just got home from our Valentine dinner, and I wanted to say I married the right guy. Some of our friends invited us out with them to this dinner and dancing event up in the canyon. I was really excited for a nice evening out with friends and my sweetheart. Well it turned out to be totally not what we expected, but we still were able to have great time. We laughed at dinner, more then we ate. My cute husband asked me to dance with him, even though we were the only ones out on the dance floor. I think we laughed the whole way home.
Thanks Scott, for always (well most of the time) being a good sport. For working so hard at school and at work. Thanks for making me laugh at myself and just at life. For helping me with any art project I get myself into, which has been a lot lately. Thanks for dancing with me!! Thanks for continuing to love me even if the house is in disarray! I am so honored to be your best friend and your wife.
I love you, Rafael!
-Helen

CHARLOTTE, WHERE ARE YOU?

2010-02-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

This morning I'm finally taking down the rest of Christmas stuff. Yeah I know! My friend called me this morning as I went outside to take down the garland from our porch. I came in put down the phone and called for Charlotte to see what she was up to. No answer! I went into here room and called again, no answer! I went into my room and called for her, no answer! For about a minute I was running into each room and calling her name, and no answer! By this time I'm screaming her name! I go outside, thinking maybe she came out when I was on the phone! No Charlotte! Ahhhh! I run back into the house start screaming Charlotte's name, NO ANSWER! I run outside again and see my neighbor and say, "I can't find CHARLOTTE!" I run back in my house and my neighbor is behind me yelling her name too! When all of a sudden I hear a small voice say,"mom?" I see Charlotte's little face hiding behind the door in my closet. My neighbor saw that we were ok and left me to my emotions. As I held and gave her a big hug the panic left my body. I talked to Charlotte about how she scared me when she didn't answer me. She hugged me and patted my back. Now that this little scare is over I can only imagine what Charlotte was thinking as she was sitting there in the closet. "There's no way I'm coming out here while she's yelling at me. I just wanted to play hide n'seek!"
I feel a little silly, but justified at the same time. Of course my house was crazy, as my neighbor is trying to help me find my child. For a spilt second I was so embarrassed, but life goes on. I'm just glad that Charlotte is okay!
(p.s. she is so grounded when she is ten!)

Surprise...Christmas in St. Louis!

2010-01-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

Yup that's right, my wonderful husband surprised me with a trip to STL for Christmas. Not only was it a surprise for me, we were able to surprise our families as well. The looks on our parent's faces, were priceless! Lot's of pictures, so get ready.

We got to see our dear friends the Holmes, who live in New Hampshire. We chaperoned the youth dance together. More like we danced with all of the teens, and had a great time.

Our cute girls played together too!

We were able to see a few friends while we were there, but not as many as would have like to. They're always so many faces we want to see, but never enough time. There's always next time, right?
I hope everyone's Christmas was merry and bright as we turned our thoughts and actions to our Savior. Merry Christmas...a month late.
P.S. If you were wondering where your Christmas card is? It's still on our computer. We didn't get very far with it this past year. So this year you'll get two cards. haha

Family Photos!

2010-01-14T08:36:00.000-08:00

I loved how our family photos turned out this year! Thanks Kristina! Here are some of our favorites...

FRIENDS

2009-12-08T15:32:00.000-08:00

This past month I was able to see some of my friends from college. I hadn't seen Lori and Vanessa since 2004! We got together for dinner: Us three, two of Lori's three kids, Vanessa's two kids, Charlotte, and my sweet husband. It was wonderful seeing them, but next time I think we'll leave the kids at home.

Charlotte and Annie

Yesterday our friends Aiden and Annie came over so their mom could run some errands. Aiden was pleased that I had some boy toys, but was disappointed when Duck Hunt wouldn't work. Annie and Charlotte got along for the most part. Three words: Charlotte doesn't share! But they did pose for some cute pictures!

Say "cheeeeese"!

They are just so cute!

They are talking...well texting! They look like all of the teenagers in my life!

Aiden was such a good sport!

Where I Spend my Tuesday nights...

2009-11-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

is with these great ladies! It's such a great pleasure to work with women who inspire you!

On the Tenth of this month, we had our end of the year event called Young Women in Excellence! The girls showed all things they have achieved this past year. I was really impressed by all of the activities they are involved in and different projects they've accomplished. Way to go girls!

Here are some pictures from the evening:

She makes me smile!

2009-11-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

Charlotte loves towels! There will be times where she just walking around with a wash cloth on her head. Not only are they for her head, but they are perfect size for her babies. She is such a good mama to her babies. She rocks, feeds and kisses them everyday!

The Fuhriman family...a bunch of clowns!

2009-11-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Things we do!

2009-10-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

We do many things that keep us busy.... or I just have pictures that I'd like to show off!

We Dance...

we sing..

we love our new cousin...

we slide down big inflatable slides...

we dress up like pioneers...

or we dress up like buritos...bu

ritosburitos

we wake up really early and give water to runners...

we make a cake in the shape of an eight and then forget to take a picture, so then we make people put the pieces back in so we can...

we eat fiber cookies to keep us regular...

we do puzzles together and never finish them(the white was really tough)...

and we love you all too!

That one is going to leave a mark!

2009-10-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

So August 21st was a normal day at the Fuhriman home. Charlotte had just woken up from her nap and was ready for lunch. So like a good mother I made some lunch for the little hungry babe. Charlotte was standing right next to me looking like a seagull at the beach begging for food. Just then I heard a loud noise, a large mug came flying out of the cabinet, fell on the counter, broke off the handle, and the rest of mug flew into my sweet baby's face! I had no time to react! I looked at my sweet baby, she had a large gash just under her eye. She was crying and I freaked out. My beautiful perfect baby with a bloody gash in her face! I ran outside with her in my arms to see if any of my neighbors were home...no one! I called Scott, no answer! I finally got a hold of Dominic's mom, Wendy! (Did I mention that Dominic was at my house watching me freak out). Wendy arrived, took at a looked at the gash, helped me clean it out and then we went to my doctor's office around the corner. This whole time Charlotte was such a trooper. She only cried when she saw me crying. Scott finally came to the doctors to find me a mess and Charlotte dancing in the waiting room. He thought it was a joke until she turned around...no joke! This a picture of her in our room!

That was one of the last smiles. We consulted with doctor and a plastic surgeon and came to the conclusion that liquid stitches would be the best for her. My main concern was the scar, but the doctor reassured me that it would be small. We took her to the back room. I held her, Scott held her head, and the nurse and doctor put our little sweeties face back together. Charlotte scream was heart breaking. I never want to see or hear my child in pain like that again. For the rest of the day I just teared up every time I saw her little face.

It's been awhile since the day of trauma, and Charlotte's face in healing nicely. (I'm doing better too!)

Afterwards we went shopping, we all needed a pick me up!

Slip n' Sit!

2009-08-20T07:52:00.001-07:00

We got out the slip n' slide, but Charlotte just sat.

She did like the little pool!

Dominic came back this week...Oh how we missed him!

CHARLOTTE OVER LOAD!

2009-08-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

My sweet little girl is growing so fast. She amazes me everyday! We were reading Friday night and she pointed to the picture and said,"ELMO". She is always making us laugh and keeping us very busy. Last night she was trying to climb our coffee table. Ahhh! I feel so proud when she folds her arms when we say our prayers. I love when I find her in her room reading books or just playing with her babies. I'm in love! I wanted to share with you all some pictures of our Charlotte that make us smile!

Visiting July

2009-07-13T22:22:00.001-07:00

Well July came and went, but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun here at the Fuhriman home! Each week we had a new visitor come to see us:

Week One

Grandpa Fuhriman came through to drop off some furniture from STL (I'll post about that later) he went to Oregon, but he missed us so much that he came back for the Fourth. While he was here Scott's brother Tim and his family were in town. Our sweet nieces dance every year in the Stadium of Fire here in Provo. It was great seeing them, but we also got to meet the new addition to the family...Keegan!

Tim and Keegan

Charlotte meeting her little cousin (he weighs more than her and he's five months younger)

My Fourth of July Cake! I've always wanted to make this cake and I think it might just become a new tradition.

So we went to the Provo temple to watch the fireworks this year...never again! We were stuck in traffic for hours. We didn't get home until one in the morning!

Week 2

The week started off with us going down to Fairview to check out a reunion and retreat center where we might have our family reunion in a few years. It's called Fairview Reunion & Retreat. At the retreat there are goats...

and Chalotte loved to watch movies on the big screen in the conference room...

During week 2 and 3, I went back to work to fill in for Rich, my old boss at Dukes Jewelers. It was nice to go back, but I sure did miss my little woman at home. I don't know how working moms do it...I was so tired by the time I got home. Three cheers for moms that make it work.

Week 3
My old roomie and dear friend Ellen came into town to catch up. We all love hanging out with her and always enjoy her visits. She took our little family out to dinner to the Bombay House. It was so wonderful! (as I'm typing this, I'm craving it.) While she was here we got to together with our Freshmen and Sophomore roomies. It was fun to see all of them and catch up on life.

Freshmen Women

Sophomore Ladies- minus two (Kim and Penny, we missed you)

( all holding our babies)

Week 4
We were looking forward to this week to see Melissa and Maya! It was so nice to spend some time with them. It made us miss the old days when they lived less than a hundred feet away. The little girls enjoyed getting to know each other as well.

Charlotte loves her friend's ears too!

Charlotte likes to pretend to lead music while she sings. She really gets into it!

It was so wonderful to see them, but we did miss Rob! (maybe next time) Maybe next summer we will go see the Holmes in NH!

Week 5
Busy once more. We had a couple of days to regroup before Scott's parents came to stay with us. They came for the Ralston family reunion, which is every two years. It was a lot of fun to see family, but there were many missing this year. Out of the eight children from Scott's family only two were there: Scott and his sister, Darci. Hopefully they will all be there in two years!

Also this past month I was put in the new Young Women's Presidency as the 2nd counselor. I'm over the Beehives (12-13 year olds). They are full of energy and make me giggle all the time. I'm really excited for the new responsibilities...wish me luck!

June in a nut shell

2009-06-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

June started off with Girl's Camp (see post below). My mom and my sister Cate stayed other week visiting, which was a lot of fun. While they we here Scott and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. Boy, has timed flown by!

Then...
and now... We spent our anniversary up in Salt Lake. It was nice to spend time together just the two of us.

Art City Days

If you didn't know we live in Springville, aka "Art City"! There's a parade, carnival, and many other activities to enjoy with the family.

The leftover of our funnel cake...yummy!
Scott and the babe standing in line for the carousel.
Cute photo...to bad I look like a hot dog in it.

We went to the concert in the park, which was a lot fun watching the families jam out. It was interrupted by the rain. We were not prepared for the down pour, so we got drenched. We then came home to dried off and watched the fireworks from our driveway. Over all a great time with our little family.

Father's Day

Charlotte just thinks her daddy is the funniest person around. When she wakes up on Saturday mornings she is so excited to see her daddy still in bed. She loves to wake him up with a big kiss, which then typically is followed by sitting on his head. She just laughs, and of course we do too!

For father's day at our church we have a tradition of the kids making ties for their dads. Well I didn't want Scott to be left out, so...
Charlotte made one for Scott too (with a little help for her mom).

I'm so grateful to have a husband who loves me and our sweet Charlotte. Scott is such a great dad and a fab husband!

A Shower for Candis

Our young women's president Candis Roberts was having a baby, and moving all in the same week. Her move was not expected to be as fast as it was so we had to step it up on our gift. Our young women's group in one day made a values quilt to give to Candis and her new baby. They all came over to my house and sewed their little hearts out. We had a lot fun and made some great memories together. The next day was the shower and everyone came together to make a great time for all.

It was good to see Candis and wish her well. We will miss her tremendously. She is one of my favorite people, and she make any situation a lot more enjoyable. I'll miss stopping by her house to catch up and our may afternoons at the park.

Charlotte and her friend Maya

The 28th isn't that some bodies birthday?
We ended the month of with Scott's birthday, which was not as eventful as hoped it would be. (I'm trying to recall what we did and I'm drawing a blank. Which is funny, because I started this post on the 28th.) I really dropped the ball! I love you, honey! Thanks Mama Pat for bringing Rafael Scott in to this world twenty-six years ago. He's a keeper!

Well let's see how the next moth goes...see ya soon!

Girl's Camp 2009!

2009-06-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

The first week of June I had the opportunity to go to Girl's camp. I had such a great time with the girls from my ward and also my youngest sister Cate. "Oh, the place you'll go!" was the theme for our time at Heber Valley. The first night, the general young women's president Sister Dalton came to unfurl the virtue flag and talk to the young women about the importance of being a young woman of virtue. It was such a great experience to be apart of, with over 2,000 young women waving there gold ribbons. Over the course of the week we went hiking, ropes course, to the lake, and did many other great girl's camp traditions. It was a blast! I can't wait for next year!

As you can see we all had a great time!

Charlotte's routine

2009-05-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Eat dinner
Pour milk on head
Rub gross hands in hair (who needs napkins)

Be embarrassed that her dad is taking pictures of her naked

Be really cute

Put robe on so her mom can take pictures
Get bottle
Get ready for bed

Have another idea

A little basketball anyone!

Welcome to Guatemala!

2009-05-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday the youth from our ward were sent on "missions", and two lovely young ladies were sent to Guatemala aka our home. They shared a message with us and then we ate tostadas. We set out a little display of things from Guatemala that Scott collect while there on his mission. It was a great experience and the girls did a great job.

Charlotte got really into it!

My Little MONKEY!

2009-05-27T12:29:00.001-07:00

The other day Scott and I were trying to get a glass out of the drain when we turned around to see...
She wants to help already with dishes.

This will help me keep the counters cleared off...well maybe help motivate!

Playing Catch-up!

2009-05-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

So it's been a month since we've posted anything, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. So I'm finally taking the time to share with all of you what's be going on in our neck of the woods. (This is a long one.)

What...snow!
Yes that's right, we got snow right after Easter. I'm sure you're all thinking, "you do live in Utah", yeah-but when you were wearing flip-flops the day before it's a little frustrating. But I do have to say it was the most beautiful snow we have had all year!

No BBQ for awhile!

Oh Deer!
So on Sunday (April 19th), Charlotte and I were going to go enjoy the beautiful Sabbath day by laying out in the yard. We looked out the window and what did we see...four little deer looking back at us.

They all took turns jumping over the fence! What good manners!
After Bambi's family left Charlotte kept looking around to see where they had gone. "eheh?" So sorry baby your friends have ticks!

Play dough creations!

Charlotte did very well with the play dough. She only licked it a couple of times.

Dominic and I made Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall.

He had a great fall!
Which reminds me...we checked out a really funny book from the library the other day called, "Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again" by Dave Horowitz. It's an Eggcellent book!

Fuhrimans in the Lime Light!
Since January, Scott and I have been going to practices for a stake Broadway production, "Celebrating the Human Spirit". Scott was in two numbers, Tradition - Fiddler on the Roof and One Day More - Les Miserables. He did such an awesome job. I was a go-go dancer in Go Go Go Joseph - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat. It was such a great exprience to be a part of and we met some really great people too.

Scott in his stage makeup. (I know he looks good even in makeup.)

(I don't mean to brag, but I totally made my pants. I know you want a pair.)

Party at Charlotte's Crib!
We had our little friend Ellie over the other day and the girls just had a blast together.

Charlotte has been climbing on everything and she got herself on the chair in her room. (a little help from me turning her around) She was so proud of herself.

Ellie wanted a turn too! Charlotte didn't like that idea!

Dominic on the other hand was wondering when I was going to watch another boy! The whole day he was saying,"Umm they're bugging me!" Poor guy doesn't realize that stuff never ends.

Mother's Day!
All I can say is that I'm one lucky lady. I feel so blessed to have a beautiful daughter and a wonderful husband who love me even when...I yell, don't do the dishes, shrink clothes, experiment with different dinners, stay in my pj's until 2pm, and make them watch What Not to Wear.

Art Ball!
The 43rd annual Springville Art Ball was this past weekend. I was at the hardware store when I called Scott and told him that I wanted to go. An hour later I got a dress from our cousin Joanna and picked up the tickets. After Charlotte's two hour nap (Scott and I watched Marly and Me...sad.)Scott, babe, and I were headed to the store to get Scott a new suit. Two hours later we had a tailored suit (that fit in our budget)and traffic. We got home with an hour to get ready.

We went with our neighbors/friends the Skinners and Singletons. Food, art and dancing we had a ball!

Like our "prom" pictures.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

"Some for baby...

some for me!"

Party ALL Day Long!

2009-04-09T08:40:00.001-07:00

What a day we had for Charlotte's First Birthday! It was full of family, friends, sweets, and bubbles. The day started off with opening gifts from my parents with my parents via ichat. Isn't modern technology great!We then had friends over for a bubble party! We had a bubble gun, wands, and bubbles for all.

Cupcakes too!

I Love this picture!

Later on in the evening we had family over for cake and treats. Everyone was extremely generous with gifts to Charlotte.

Singing Happy Birthday with Grandpa and Grandma Fuhriman
(again modern tech is great)

My attempt at a ladybug.

It was a wonderful day and emotional one. This was the fastest year of my life, but by far the most rewarding. I love being a mom. I feel so blessed to have Charlotte in my life. She brings a different kind of joy that I've never experienced before. Thank you Charlotte, for picking us! Love,

Mom

Charlotte's Big ONE!!!

2009-04-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, as I'm sure all of our loyal readers already knew, today was Charlotte's first birthday! We are so excited and can hardly believe how fast time flies. Those of you who are parents know what we're talking about. It really is amazing that she's been with us for a full year already.

Here a few photos to take us through Charlotte's first 365 days with us.

Obviously today was an exciting day and there is a ton of stuff to tell you about. But unfortunately, we're exhausted. After 2 parties, 38 guests, and 3 baths, we are all pooped out. We'll be filling you in on all the fun details another time--hopefully tomorrow.

Picture Perfect...well, not yet.

2009-03-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

So the last time we posted anything it was after we had our family pictures taken by our cousin Kristina (who, by the way, just recetnly got accepted to the BYU Photograpy program!) Well Kristina's lovely photos (click here to see them) got us thinking that maybe we'd like to invest in a nicer camera and then spend some time trying to learn how to use it like she does. (Just to be clear, we don't ever expect to be able to take photos as great as Kristina's. She's obviously way talented.)

Then our friends Rob and Melissa came into town with their new baby girl Maya who is as cute as can be (click here to see little Maya) and they had a nice camera that took really good pitcures, too. So we figured in order to keep from coveting everyone else's nice cameras we'd have to just get our own.

So we did our taxes and took the plunge. We did our research and tried to get the best camera for the best deal. After getting advice from a lot of people and reading a ton on online reviews we settled on a Canon Rebel XS DSLR. We've both taken a few camera classes in high school and college so we wanted an SLR so that maybe at some point we can try to get really creative with it.

We're really excited about it and we've already taken a ton of photos just to try to get used to it. It's definitely different from just a normal point and shoot. We think the pictures come out really great despite the fact that we still don't know how to use it to it's full potential. Here's a few pictures that we've taken with it that we really like. Let us know what you think. And if you have any pointers for us (Kristina) please feel free to pass them on.

Nothing fancy, but we've had a lot of fun with it so far.

Picture Perfect

2009-02-28T19:29:00.000-08:00

We took our family photo's on Thanksgiving and I'm finally putting them up. Here are some of our favorites...

Scott's cousin Kristin took them for us. Check out her blog on our friends and family list. Thanks Kristina!

Any advise?

2009-02-26T15:40:00.000-08:00

I have a very sad and in pain baby at my home. Charlotte is teething! Two at once! What do I do to comfort my sweet girl?

Ring...Ring...Ring

2009-02-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

"Haai!"

So about a month ago I noticed that Charlotte kept putting the remote by her head, but I didn't think much of it. Until one night she was freaking out about something and so, to distract her, I pretended to "answer " the remote. She grabbed the "phone" and had a full on conversation, all in a language I couldn't understand. So now you can catch little miss talking on the phone all the time. The best part is that everything gets turned into a phone - remote controls, Nintendo controllers, her stuffed animals, Cheerios, and even an orange peel. In fact, any time a phone rings on the television, Charlotte picks up whatever is closest to "answer" it. And every once in a while you will hear a tiny little voice say, "Haai"!

Ms. Gets-Into-Everything, I mean Charlotte...

2009-02-18T13:52:00.000-08:00

is keeping her dad and I very busy these days. She is now crawling very well, so she thinks the house is hers to explore. I have to remind myself to always close the bathroom door, and that I will be putting the DVDs back in their place at least five times that day. I'm okay with that, but I'm not okay with my baby falling as she tries to explore the house. Poor thing looks pretty disheveled at the end of the day.

Even as she is pulling my side table down on top of herself (don't worry no one got hurt), I'm amazed at how fast she is growing. She keeps me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being her mom.

Merry Christmas...a month later!

2009-01-26T11:05:00.001-08:00

We went to St. Louis for Christmas this year and we had such a wonderful time. We love spending the holidays with our families and with the added bonus of eating at all of our favorite places it St. Louis it's worth the trip.

Christmas eve in our new PJ's.

Charlotte wasn't really into opening the presents. Scott said we should have wrapped the gifts in magazines, then she would have loved ripping them open.

Charlotte and the monkey have matching sweaters.

Cate got a new kitten for Christmas and she named her Pepper. We aren't big cat people in our home, but we do have to admit that she is such a cute little thing. Charlotte loved little Pepper and would just laugh when the kitten was in the room.

This is what you could find Scott doing during our vacation...playing Cate's DS. What ever keeps him happy.
Some of my favorite moments of our trip...

Christmas morning...little lady was the last one in bed.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Playing Catch Up!

2009-01-06T11:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, where did December go? I can't believe the holidays are over. We were so busy this past month I feel like I can finally take a breather. Ahhh!
Charlotte is growing and amazing us each day. I know most of you come to see pictures of her so here you go:

If you notice I like to put things on her head, she is such a great sport. More soon from Christmas! Love you all and Happy New Year!

The Late Night show with Charlotte Mae

2008-12-04T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well we have some good news, Scott is back to working mornings. We tried to see if the schedule would work better for school and it didn't so when the opening came, we took it. Now we just have to get Miss Charlotte on a earlier schedule too! We have created a night owl! We do have to admit that she is pretty funny when she gets slap happy.

ELECTION DAY

2008-11-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

Today, of course, is a big day for us and our country. Helen and I have been very interested in the election and we have looked forward to today to go to the polls and cast our ballot. Most of you reading this probably have a pretty good idea who we voted for...

We voted for Obama for a wide variety of reasons. We have discussed the election often in our home and we both felt very comfortable and enthusiastic about him as our future President. I want to be crystal clear about this: our decision to vote for Barack Obama had nothing to do with his race. Having said that, however, I can't help but think about what an important and monumental day this is for our country because of his race. Whether he wins or loses, the fact that Barack Obama, an African-American, is on the ballot and is this close to becoming the next President of the United States is inspiring-regardless of who you vote for.
Again, I want to be clear. I'm not suggesting that anyone who doesn't vote for Obama is standing in the way of progress or that anyone who does vote for him is automatically promoting progress. Like I said before, we did not vote for Obama because he is black. But I really do think that we can all stand back and be inspired by how far we've come as a country. In our short history we've come from one end of the spectrum-slavery, Jim Crow, segregation-all the way to the other-where we can take an honest look at a black man and consider him for President of the United States based solely on his views and values and not on his race.
Anyway, we try not to make our blog a soapbox for our political views, but I just wanted to share with all of you how important and historic and, frankly, inspiring this day is for us in the Fuhriman home.

Hope you all have a chance to vote.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

For the last several months Helen and I have been going back and forth about what to do for Halloween costumes. Every year, we promise ourselves that we're going to leave ourselves plenty of time to find the PERFECT costumes and now that Charlotte is here we thought this year would be the perfect opportunity to be one of those darling families at the ward Halloween party.
We started thinking about costumes pretty early, but it was tough settling on anything. At first we were going to capitalize on the name we gave our daughter, Charlotte, and dress her up like a spider, I'd be a pig named Wilbur, and Helen would be Fern. That idea kind of fizzled, though, because we didn't think anyone would recognize Helen's costume.
Our next idea was a product of the current political atmosphere consuming all of our lives right now. Some ideas were kicked around about me dressing as Barack Obama, but I never really liked that--his ears are way bigger than mine. But I loved the idea of Helen dressing as Sarah Palin and Charlotte going as John McCain! But that idea also fizzled, partly because we're one of maybe two families in our ward who are democrats--and everyone knows it--and we didn't want to have to spend the night defending our views. (Wouldn't it have been hilarious, though to see Charlotte with her hair painted white and dressed in a little tiny suit!)
So, 3 nights before Halloween, we found ourselves in the same plight we've been in for the last 4 years in a row; What were we going to be for Halloween?!? (Just as a side note, Helen and I have actually been together for 5 Halloweens, but we don't really count last year because on the night before Halloween Helen and I got in a huge fight over what to be and we ended up not dressing up at all.)
So, with little time before the big night, my lovely wife decided that she would take matters into her own hands and personally ensure that she and Charlotte had the most fabulous costumes ever! (I had to work Halloween night, so we didn't spend too much time worrying about my costume) Helen made a dash to the fabric store, pulled out her sewing machine and went crazy. And the result was a truly glamorous duo of high fashion WITCHES. Take a look!

Our little Pumpkin Pie...

2008-11-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

So I guess it's pretty common for new parents to carve out a huge pumpkin and put their naked child in it. I don't really get it, but Helen though it would be fun. I'm not sure if Charlotte ever really got into it, but it was hilarious! Here are a few pictures of the momentous occasion.

(Helen wants me to mention that Charlotte was wearing a diaper.)

My two favorite people.

2008-10-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went for a walk, while our car was getting the oil changed. We stop to get some lunch at Sensuous Sandwich and looked around at the Halloween store. It was fun to just hang out and not be in a rush. It was such a beautiful day and I couldn't think of two people I would have rather been with.

Charlotte would grab his head and just try with all her might to get that button in her mouth.

She found herself some handles!

Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the kids and I went to the pumpkin patch with our neighbors. We had such a great time running through the corn maze and picking out pumpkins for the house.

Dominic was telling us that he would "take care of this goat guy" for us.

We found a rabbit with a familiar name.

So Dominic has a crush on Julia, my eight year neighbor. He always wants her to come over and play. It's funny, Dominic is almost taller than her. Maybe he does have a chane.

Our big pumpkin...

and my sweet little pumpkin.

Y, you ask?

2008-10-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

On the 8th of this month my young womens group went to "Hike the Y". I was so excited-I hadn't been up there since 2002, when I went with Sang and Scott before they both left on their missions. We left early in the morning, 7am! I know what you're thinking, "Helen, you got up that early on a Saturday?" Yes, I did and it was worth it. The hike up was a little brutal (I was in the back the whole time), and by the time we made it up there it had started to snow. It finally cleared and left a beautiful clear day. The way down was a lot easier, but somehow I still was in the back. All in all, it was a great time with some of my favorite teens.

Everyday is an Adventure!

2008-09-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

For the last two months I have been watching a four year old little boy named Dominic. He is Scott's cousin, Wendy's little boy. He is a funny kid and he is definitely teaching us some lessons on little boys. First, they are so busy. Second, everything can be changed into a super power of some sort. Third, if there is dirt around they will play in it. We love having him and Charlotte thinks he is just hysterical. Her first belly laugh was at lunch, when she was just watching him eat his lunch. (Which can be quite entertaining.)

Here are some of our adventures:
Laundry BoY and sidekick Baby Shorts! Doing the laundry is always fun when they come to help!

While we waited for the laundry to be done Laundry BoY got a cape, gloves, and "belt" (don't look to close at the belt- remember I don't have boy costumes)

I was pretty proud of what I came up with-Scott said we were playing dress up and that's when Dominic said he was done. Thanks Scott!

Good Morning Beautiful
Dominic comes at 7:30 in the morning...so we take advantage of PBS kids. This morning I fell asleep on the couch after Curious George. I heard Scott with Super WHY! in the background and I knew I was good for a little bit longer. That's when I felt someone playing with my hair and giggling. Dominic kept coming back and adding to his master piece and I would act like I was fast asleep. When I finally "woke up" Dominic was laughing and said,"I got you. That is the funniest video ever HA!"
This is what I woke up to:
Hot, I know! Mornings are not good to me!

The culprit of the hair....

and the culprit for the dark circles.

To the park we go to swing, swing, and swing.

2008-09-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

Lately we have been going to the park with our friends and enjoying the changing weather. We've got some great parks in every direction. We love our little town, Springville.

She looks a little uncomfortable here.

Baby Libre

2008-09-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I asked Scott to go put some socks on the baby, because it was a little chilly. He came out with the baby laughing. I looked at Charlotte and her socks were up to her knees so I told him we should complete the look...our little wrestler.

I wonder what she was thinking at that moment? You tell me.

Pretty Princess Party!

2008-08-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Charlotte and I were invited to our neighbors Princess eighth birthday party last Saturday. We were asked to dress up like princesses...well here is what we came up with. I knew my big box of dress up stuff would come in handy!

We had a fun time enjoying the company of all the little girls in my neighborhood. Charlotte and I were the oldest and the youngest invited.

Julia the bithday girl!

One tired little princess!

Little Charlotte Jumper!

2008-08-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

She sucks at jumping.

Seriously that's all she does...sucks.

The cutest little baby face!

2008-08-23T14:42:00.001-07:00

Everyday I take pictures of this cute baby...so I just thought I would show her off.

Jane Violet is 20!!!

2008-08-19T01:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Janey! We love you so much and hope you have a great day. You're such a great Sister...

...and a good Auntie...

...and a good friend!

And you're a hottie!:)

Always be good! We love that you're such a big part of our lives. Have fun being 20!

Charlotte's Ready to Talk!!!

2008-08-19T01:15:00.001-07:00

Well, the last few days have been pretty fun. Charlotte is starting to really develop a little personality. She's become a lot more active lately, and she's found her little voice. From time to time she'll start babbling about who knows what. Her voice goes up down and all over. It's really fun. In fact, after a long hiatus, she's even decided to update her blog, so be sure to check that out at Charlottesweb-site.blogspot.com.

Happy Birthday Catharine!

2008-08-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

We wanted to wish our sweet little sister a happy eleventh birthday! Catharine (Cate) is one savvy young lady. She has always amazed us with kind and caring nature. We are so grateful to have her as a sister, sister in-law, auntie, friend, and the future architect-chef in our lives. We hope your birthday is a blast, Cate. We love you!

Around, Around, Around the Carousel !

2008-07-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

We went to the Crescent Park Carousel in Riverside, RI. My MeMe (Grandmother) would go to this carousel as a child and everytime we are in Rhode Island we go and visit. Scott wasn't very excited to go, but after ten rides or so we couldn't get him to go home.

Here is Maddy and my mom getting the ring to throw in the clowns mouth. Maddy also got the gold ring that won her a free ride.

Get it in there Cat!

A day at the beach!

2008-07-31T13:48:00.001-07:00

We hit Easton's beach in Rhoad Island. It was a perfet day other than the red algae that covered our bodies.

Watch out Pamala Anderson! (Ha! Ha!)

Point Judith, RI

2008-07-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

On our trip the the east coast we stopped by the Point Judith lighthouse. (If you have seen Dan in Real Life, it's the lighthouse he takes the kids to visit.)
I love Charlottes little face in this picture.

The Cavin Women!

Cate and Me!

What a Dark Knight.

2008-07-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Scott and I went to see the new Batman movie The Dark Knight. AHHH! I thought is was a great movie, but boy was I on the edge of my seat the whole time. All the actors do such and amazing job. All the buzz about Heath Ledger is no joke. He was so sadistic, creepy, and I felt awful any time I laughed at his crazy antics. I give this movie two thumbs up, but I agree with others the rating PG-13 should be applied. Leave the kids at home. We left Charlotte with her Auntie Darci. Our first real date since she's been born. Thanks Darci!

Neil and Rae's wedding!

2008-07-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

Scott, Charlotte, and I flew out to Springfield, MA for my cousin Neil's wedding. He married Rae Marie on Saturday July 12th. We had such a wonderful time party with all of the family. Welcome to the family Rae!

Andrew looked so handsome! ( I wish I had a picture of him dancing. The boy can move!)

My sisters...aka "my babies".

Charlotte wanted to dance too!

The Dress Rehearsal Dinner