I kind of can’t get my brain around the fact that this year will be over in 2 weeks! My biggest hope for 2022 was that it would be at least somewhat less horrible than 2021. (I try to set reasonable expectations for my life!) And my hope absolutely became a reality! Not only was 2022 less horrible than 2021, it was actually quite miraculous! Though, to be fair, we also saw countless miracles in 2021. (More on miracles in a coming post)

One big reason 2022 went so well is definitely because Josh and I were trying to prioritize time together. We certainly didn’t do a perfectly planned, fabulous date every week. But we did do a date the vast majority of the weeks this year. And we could really tell a difference (negative) when we missed a date for a week. My biggest takeaways from this year’s goal word include:

• Everything in my life is better when I feel truly and deeply connected with Josh.
• Taking time away from our kids together helps Josh and me remember all the reasons why we chose to have them in the first place.

The weeks we didn’t manage to get a date were, not surprisingly, the weeks when we were too busy with other roles and responsibilities to make time for some kind of date. Those were also, not surprisingly, usually weeks where we were very tired (of doing all that important work stuff). So, it wasn’t hard to figure out why our life/relationship seemed to fall apart on those weeks. If we were too busy or tired for some kind of fun together, we were clearly too busy and too tired. There weren’t a ton of weeks like that; but enough for me to know we should avoid them.

On weeks when we REALLY got to escape the kids and go do something exciting that we wouldn’t have been able to do the same with them (like our cruise, or Frightmares) it was so nice to remember that Josh and I aren’t just co-parents, we’re totally in-love! We’re best friends, and have tons of fun together! And just like when I fell in-love with Josh the first time, I feel close to him and I just want to settle down and have a family with him! And then, oh wait! We are ALREADY settled down and have a beautiful family together! And it is just happier to come home to my life-long dream come true when I’m feeling like that than when we’re too busy and too tired.

So, basically dating Josh is the best, and I really want to do it a lot more. I feel like the more time we spend together, the more time we crave spending together. And writing all of these thoughts down makes me just want to go out with Josh right now!

I haven’t decided what my word for 2023 will be; but I had better get on it, because there’s not much time!

Fall is seriously the best! Everything about it is just delightful! The cooler weather. The beautiful colors of leaves. The fallen leaves scattered around the ground. The wearing of sweaters, jackets, and coats. The bounteous school, church, neighborhood, and family activities. It’s all just so happy! Here’s a little taste of our autumn so far.

School
Back to school time is pretty magical for me. I love hearing about the kids’ new teachers and friends. I LOVE it when they bring their school pictures home! (Seriously, though. Check out how beautiful my kids are!) I love the school activities and field-trips. It’s all fun.

So far, we have had two preschool field-trips–to Wheeler Farm and the Schmidt’s pumpkin patch–and the elementary school jogathon. Oh, and parent-teacher conferences which I also love! I haven’t gotten to help out in any classrooms yet this year; but I hope to do so in coming months.

Neighborhood/Church Activities

The ward had a fall festival with a chili cook-off. It was fun and yummy, and I frankly wish I could have tried more of the chilis. But alas, my stomach was the limiting factor. Our cornbread was a favorite, though! Josh made muffins in cute Halloween wrappers, put them on pumpkin platters AND provided honey-butter. So, it was not-surprisingly the first to go.

We were also invited to a Halloween block party. It was super fun for the kids because our neighbor has a giant garage full of arcade games! On the invitation it specifically said “costumes encouraged”, so we went all out! Josh and I both dressed as vampires, and I did my make-up super cool for the occasion. When we got to the party … we were the ONLY people in costumes!!!! One other 7 year old girl was wearing leopard leggings, a leopard t-shirt, and leopard ears. But that was literally IT. It was thoroughly embarrassing at the time; but now I’m feeling very proud to be, obviously, the coolest family in the neighborhood.

My current calling is Activity Days leader (so. much. fun!) and for our activity we painted pumpkins. The girls all did such cute designs; but I only got a picture before they really began. Aren’t they such cute girls?!

Family Fun

Just to make double-sure that we really are the coolest family in the neighborhood, Josh continued his tradition of providing interactive Halloween displays in our yard. We put it up on the side of the house for the first time this year, and it is so nice. I feel like I can come and go as I please even if the sun has gone down! This was Josh’s first year to reuse an idea for his haunt; but the 2022 version of Pumpkin Palooza is a lot fancier than the original back in 2015. A fun fact is that if you are in one of the rooms on the west side of the house in the evenings, you can sometimes hear people outside playing it. It has been really fun to know that people are enjoying it!

Early in October, Christina and Colton invited us over for dinner and hanging out with their poultry. It is so funny that Christina impulse-bought two ducks, a chicken, and a turkey! But it was also a genuine thrill to cuddle with ducks and have a turkey perch on my shoulder. Thanks for the great time, Steemer!

Last week, Lacey hosted a girls’ night of learning to decorate cookies like a pro! And, even in spite of my severe lack of skill, my cookies turned out so cute!!!! There was a jack-o-lantern too; but I was too excited to eat it (and destroy the evidence of how poorly that one turned out), so it didn’t make it into the picture. But Lacey is seriously such a good teacher! Thanks a million!

We went to Frightmares! I know I mentioned that in the last post; but it was just too much fun not to mention again! On the left is when Josh and I went for a date (thanks Mariel!) and FINALLY went on Cannibal! It was so fun to be at Lagoon with just Josh. It’s honestly really fun to be just about anywhere with just Josh.

Back on September 22, in honor of the first official day of fall, I decorated like crazy! It was so fun! I love the way my mantel turned out. The next week, at WinCo, I saw this cute little ghost decoration thingy. It was $8, though, and I just thought “no way.” Besides, it was pretty small; and I like my decorations nice and big! So, Josh and I went through some scrap wood in the garage and recreated it–triple+ size–to put on our porch for FREE!!!!! Josh drew the shapes, cut the wood, and attached everything together. I painted the ghosts and made the ribbons for the bows. And Josh and I both worked on the letters. It was such a fun little project and I am so pleased with how it turned out!

One of my favorite fall traditions is driving up Big Cottonwood Canyon to see fall leaves. But this year, I took a silent vote from the family to see who else wanted to do it (I had been getting vibes from Josh that maybe it’s not on his favorite-list) and the only person who said they were interested in going was Helen. So, one morning when there was no preschool, Helen, Bianca, and I drove up the canyon and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful colors!

It has been an unfortunately warm fall, until last weekend when we got snowed on! I was totally confident it would never stick. I was wrong. But it was lots of fun!

Other things going on include Mariel (best cousin ever!) coming over two times in the past month to watch the kids so Josh and I could go on dates! The first time, she and the kids decorated the house with leaves and bats. The second time she came this month, she brought her big dress-up bin from her own childhood to play with, and the kids loved it! Mariel is the best ever! She has been blessing us with her babysitting and just all-around goodness for multiple years! <3 <3 <3

For fall break this past week, we honestly didn’t get too exciting. But we did go to the library together and do all their fun Halloween activities for which we were rewarded with treats! The kids worked so hard together on the sugar-skull scavenger hunt. I was very impressed with their efforts.

Also, here’s all the kids being cute together in their jammies on our new (to us) chaise.

Happy Fall, Y’all!

It has been too long since I have written an update on our goings on. So here are some quick high-lights from this past summer that seemed like it would just never end!

June brought us the end of school and the whole gang back home. This June was the most enjoyable month of summer for me since about 2015! It gives me hope that some day I might just enjoy the entire summer again! The best parts of June include Carter’s baptism (See this blog post) and the acquisition of two insulin pumps. No more shots for us!

July was when I got done with summer. ha ha! Usually I can last until my birthday, but not this year. I think a big factor in July’s difficulty was Portia’s adjusting to her new life on an insulin pump. It is just really hard for a six year old to accept that she will basically be connected to a device for the rest of her life. But we did do at least one fun thing I can find a picture for! We completed our summer tradition of reading a Harry Potter book and then having a party and watching the movie! This year was book 4.

August was our month of trips! I went to visit Christina and Colton in New York City! I had never been before, and I had never visited Christina in one her out-of-state home before, and I’m so grateful I finally got to do both! It was so fun to see New York from C&C’s perspective and have some quality sister time!

We also joined the Monson family for a reunion at Bear Lake! Lots of beach, pool, and cousin time!

The three oldest kids went back to school in August (Helen started after Labor Day). The kids all seem to like their teachers quite a bit this year. And I got to go to Portia’s class to talk about Diabetes. That seemed to be helpful for Portia feeling more normal at school, which is a blessing. <3

And though summer weather certainly didn’t cease with August, that is where I will wrap up the chronology. But there were two presences that really characterized the good parts of this past summer for me. The first was the fact that we got season passes to Lagoon! The second was my beloved garden!

When Josh suggested we do Lagoon passes back in March, I thought it sounded decently fun. But I have actually just LOVED our Lagoon summer! It has been something that the kids look forward to each and every time we go. It has been a fun date for Josh and me a couple of times. Going to Lagoon for us is just enough work that we went seldom enough for it to stay novel for the kids; but easy enough that we really only spent however long we wanted to there and didn’t feel bad about just going home when we were tired. And though we still have lots of little kids with varying interests and abilities, I still have all the good feelings every single time we go! We have gone to Frightmares twice now, and it is the BEST! If we happen to get passes again next year, I would be totally fine with that!

And the garden! I feel like gardens are some of the most magical things in the world! I love visiting flower gardens; but I definitely do not (as of now) have the patience and diligence to really cultivate one. Maybe someday… But a vegetable garden is something I could do this year. We decided to do raised beds because despite my 5 years of trying to improve our West Jordan ground soil, I never could get things to grow very well. We started with seeds inside in about April, but we didn’t give them enough room to grow and so they didn’t really work. But we bought some plants and we planted some seeds straight in the ground and we have been abundantly blessed by our garden this year! My biggest dream was pumpkins. I wanted an entire pumpkin patch that we could share with all the cousins and neighbors, etc. We didn’t quite get that; but we did get 3 pumpkins that were ready for the first day of fall. And we have two more that are beginning to turn orange. Five pumpkins is basically a patch, right? Besides pumpkins, we had 3 varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, and golden zucchini (because they were out of green at the store). I’m so pleased with everything we have gotten!

One of the things I loved best about having a garden this year was that it reminded me just how good God is in providing for us all of the time. When I buy produce at the store, I just think of it as a given that I can exchange money for food for my family. But with the garden, I was reminded how everything is in the Lord’s hands. Will my plants grow? Will they produce anything if they do grow? All of that is in His hands. Naturally there are steps to take to ensure one nurtures the plants appropriately; but I am new enough at the gardening game that I could really see just how much God did to provide us with our bounteous harvest! And I loved remembering, each time I prayed over our garden, that it truly is our loving Heavenly Father who provides all the zillion things I take for granted every day.

This is another one of those just-for-fun posts … like all of them, I guess. A while ago, I was coiffing my two older girls and was struck by how different their hair was. I gave Fay an explanation about the kind of hair she had and then sort of ran with the idea. And so, I give you the fabrics of Monson family hair.

Fay and Elisabeth

That fateful day where I was explaining Fay’s hair to her, I likened her hair to fine silk. I have a silk scarf I received as a gift in China back in the day, and Fay’s hair is exactly like that. It is thin, delicate, and easily moves into whatever shape you want it to be in: a braid, a ponytail, a bun. When you handle Fay’s hair (and it has recently been brushed), it is nearly as smooth and fluid as water. Fay has exactly my same hair.
My hair, right now, however, is the damaged version of silk due to my having bleached it several times. Perhaps it is akin to having washed that delicate silk scarf in heavy duty detergent and then left in the dryer for 2 hours. My hair is still thin and delicate; but not quite so smooth and fluid at the moment.

Carter and Helen

It is hard to get a really excellent picture of what Carter and Helen’s hair is like, because they both have short hair. Hopefully we will get some more length on Helen in the next year. 🙂 But both of them clearly have courser hair than Fay, so I would liken their hair to a t-shirt knit fabric. Not as smooth as silk; but still easy enough to manipulate. Helen’s might be a thinner t-shirt like you would buy at a fashion store and Carter’s might be more the kind you get for free at a sporting event. But they both respond well to combing and gel. And Helen’s even has a decent amount of wave to it when it is longer and the air is moist enough. (I don’t know that that feature is necessarily typical of t-shirts; but it is certainly worth mentioning.)

Portia

Portia’s hair is more like a stiff, durable canvas. It is thick, moderately course, and doesn’t seem to damage at all. It is, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful hair in the world. <3 But nothing can be totally perfect, right? Whereas Fay’s hair will do basically anything you want it to do–as previously mentioned–Portia’s hair is less willing to be manipulated. It has to be quite long before it will go into a braid or anything of the sort. And those cute little pony/piggy tails you put in little girls’ hair are basically out of the question because of how thick her hair is. Her hair, whether short or long, seems meant to be worn down. It looks amazing and healthy at any length.

Josh

Josh’s hair is something else. I liken his hair to a thick, course, heavy duty, don’t-mess-with-me wool. Maybe like a rug. It will only tolerate being combed to Josh’s right; if he tries to do ANYTHING else with it, it just ends up kind of fluffy and chaotic. Even the strongest gel usually only has a small, short-lived effect. But after battling with his mane for the past 20 years, Josh has figured out a few things that if he does just right, altogether, will help him tame his hair for about a day. The upside to Josh’s hair is that is probably not going anywhere any time soon. I feel like, even if he started “thinning” today, it would take him about 30 years to go bald. And, let me assure you, he has not started thinning. I usually cut Josh’s hair for him, and his pile of hair after 8 weeks of growth is probably three times the amount of hair that I saw on the floor when I chopped my hair from long to pixie.

Bianca

I don’t know of a fabric that truly matches Bianca’s hair; but perhaps the closest bet is Seer-sucker. Because Bianca has curls!!!! I am beyond obsessed! If you let her hair go multiple days without washing it in the dry weather, and comb it multiple times it kind of smooths out; but most of the time you can’t stop it from curling! Josh’s family has some curl/wave genes and so I really hope Bianca’s curls are here to stay!

Anyway, thanks for joining me in this brief study of our family’s hair. If you want to share the fabric you feel your hair resembles, I would love to hear!

This past Saturday was such a wonderful day for the Monson family! Carter was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are so proud of him, and I think he is even more proud of himself for making this wonderful decision.

The final hours leading up to his baptism I spent trying to figure out how I was going to get things ready for our little party afterwards. As I went into the church I was feeling a little haggard and was lamenting that I hadn’t taken the opportunity to better prepare spiritually for this most sacred event.

But God truly is good and He mercifully allowed me to feel His Spirit sweetly and powerfully as I listened to the beautiful talk, heard the beautiful music, and watched Carter joyfully promise to follow the Savior and love and serve the people around him for the rest of his life. I felt the Holy Ghost confirm to me that what Carter was doing was good and would bless his life, just as my choice to do the same–nearly 24 years ago–has blessed my life. It was such a tender mercy from Heaven.

I’m so grateful for Carter and the person he is. And I’m extra grateful that I got to share this day with him.

I feel like any child entering the realm of double digit age is a huge deal. But now that it’s my child, my brain just has a hard time getting around it. But indeed, our most amazing Fay turned 10 on May 7, and we are SO glad she’s been ours for every one of those 10 years!

Fay is just as fun as ever she has been. She is a passionate, enthusiastic little gem who is always up to something exciting! She currently loves

• Reading, currently really enjoying the Babysitter’s Club graphic novels
• Dragons and books thereabout
• Science
• Playing pretend, usually some kind of epic adventure
• Being in charge of things and people
• Animals
• Every human she has ever met!

And whichever of those things she is presently engaging in, she gives it all the energy she has! It is fun to find out what her new passion will be each day.

Everything about Fay is joyful and exciting; but I think my favorite thing about Fay is that she is just so good. She has always had a strong will and mind, and she chooses to use those strengths to serve and love others wherever she can. She is also just a treasured friend to me. When I have melt-downs or just am feeling low, she always responds to my weaknesses and mistakes with patient compassion. It is humbling to feel her love for me in those moments when I am at my worst; and her example of Christlike love makes me want to show more compassion to others. ❤️ She truly is a remarkable young lady!

We’re so grateful that Fay made us parents 10 whole years ago. And we love who she has become in those 10 years. Here’s to infinity more!

This past week Josh and I escaped, just the two of us, on a week long cruise to the Carribbean! It was such a needed break for us, and one that we never could have done without the magnificent Mother and Daddy! We are SO SO SO grateful for everything Mother did to take care of and entertain the kids while we were gone! And it is so lovely that the kids got to spend some fun, memorable time with Grandmother and Grandpa before they leave for their mission this summer!

After Mother took us to the airport last Saturday, we flew to Orlando where Megan and Naomi were waiting to pick us up. Megan battled so much traffic and airport craziness to retrieve us. She is our hero!

We spent some of the evening with the Orlando Muhlestein kids and dogs, and went out on a double date with David and Megan. It was a fun-atmosphere pub place that just got more and more exciting as the night went on. The next day, after a lovely leisurely morning with fancy pancakes and the best company, David and Megan drove us to Port Canaveral (#besthostsever) to board our Disney cruise ship!

We had 4 ports of call on this cruise, each of which was amazing.

Port #1–Cozumel, Mexico (day 3 of the cruise)
Our goal in Cozumel was basically just to enjoy the beach. We went to a beach resort and spent the day there. We spent some time in the water–there was a floating obstacle course we played on (I fell off three times; Josh fell off zero times)–and a lot of time relaxing in the shade. The temperature was basically perfect, and we had a great time!

When we returned to the ship, there was a mariachi band playing! It was really fun!

Fun fact about Cozumel: It’s coastline has one of the healthiest corral reefs in the world! To maintain the health of that reef, we were not allowed to wear sunscreen in the ocean.

Port #2–Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (day 4 of the cruise)
On Grand Cayman we took a tour of the main city, Georgetown, learned a lot of history, visited a fascinating rock formation known as “Hell” (and met “the Devil”–a cooky old guy who owns half of “Hell” and runs a gift shop right next to it) and went to a turtle farm! The turtles were the best part! Another best part was the police officer directing traffic right off the port (no picture). He was almost dancing as he helped cars and pedestrians get around safely, and always with a big smile you could see despite the mask he was wearing!

Fun Fact about Cayman Islands: They are still governed by the UK, and their judges all have to wear white wigs in court.

Port #3–Falmouth, Jamaica (day 5 of the cruise)
Jamaica was quite the adventure for us! We had a shore excursion booked that would take us to an aviary, enchanted gardens, and a waterfall we could hike to. But when we arrived at the meeting place that morning, nobody was there from our tour company, and nobody who was there had seen them. We waited a while before giving up. Later, however, we got a ride on what’s called a “Pedicab”–a bike trailer type thing. We told our cabby, Mr. Happy, that we just wanted to get a taste of what Jamaica was like, because all we knew about it came from watching Cool Runnings. He obliged and pedaled us around the “tourist approved” parts of town. It was a very humbling experience to see the situation so many people lived in. We can only imagine what things were like outside the “tourist approved” areas. Mr. Happy explained to us that many people can only feed their families each day because of the wild fruit that grows plentifully all over the island. Two fruits that are absolutely essential to the survival of many Jamaicans are Bread Fruit and Ackee. The latter is the national fruit of Jamaica and is, quite interestingly, poisonous until it naturally bursts open when fully ripe.

Fun Fact about Jamaica: People really do say “ya mon” all the time. I never got tired of it!

Port #4–Castawy Cay, Bahamas (day 7 of the cruise)
Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island, which they lease from the Bahamian government. It was another paradisiacal beach/tropical jungle, marvelously maintained and easy to navigate. We again, enjoyed the beach (much easier to enjoy it longer when you can wear sunscreen and you’re me). We signed up to go parasailing–which I was SOOOO excited about! But right around our time window, the wind picked up and our adventure was cancelled. It was so sad. The skipper explained to us “I could definitely get you guys up, but I’m not so sure I could get you back down; and that’s something we typically like to do.” We had to admit that was fair.😂 It also started raining, which cut our beaching a little bit short, but honestly not too much. We still had tons of fun and relaxation!

Between ports, we had lots of fun on the ship, too!

Fun Fact about Disney Cruises: There is live music being performed at almost any hour of the day. We enjoyed some beautiful piano and violin!

Then Saturday morning came nice and early and we were off the boat and heading back to the airport. BUT, when we arrived at the airport (at 8:45 AM, our flight departed after 7:00 PM) we quickly rented a car and headed out again! We fulfilled a long-standing dream of mine!

Gatorland!

Gatorland is exactly what it sounds like. It is a park dedicated to alligators (and some crocodiles) and other freaky Florida wildlife. I feel like the other theme park it is most similar to is SeaWorld, only not so big. Gatorland doesn’t have roller coasters; but it does have a series of ziplines, which looked cool. Like SeaWorld there are some shows you can sit and watch about some of the animals they keep in the park. We got to watch alligators jump out of the water to grab raw chicken straight out of a handler’s hand! It was way crazy, especially since all you usually see an alligator do is pretend to be a floating log.

It was seriously so much fun (and somewhat terrifying) to see so many alligators! But there was another thing that was really fun for us to see, as well. There are TONS of cranes who make their home in Gatorland, and many just happen to have chicks right now!

Fun Fact about Florida: My Mom is from there! Also, in Orlando, we probably passed at least 4 streets with the word “Orange” in their name.

And then, after returning to the airport and flying back to Utah, we returned home to happily sleeping children, a clean house, and all the laundry folded! 🤯🥰 We had a fantastic time, and we are so grateful to Mother and Daddy (again) for making it possible!!

Carter turned 8 years old yesterday. He celebrated with all his favorites: donuts, juice, tacos, and a father-son trip to the skate park. We love this dude so much!

Carter is our little Everything-Man. He seriously loves so many things! He loves soccer (especially drop-kicking), scooters, bikes, trampoline jumping, and playing with sisters. Those are the outside activities.

Inside, Carter loves solving Rubik’s cubes (he can do 2×2 and 3×3 cubes all by himself), puzzles, games, building things and marble tracks, playing the piano, reading, and video games. Among other things.☺️

At school, Carter loves math (he was on the math team), science, his speech class, playing soccer at recess, and making new friends.

Carter is also just an easy going kid with a giant heart. He is kind and considerate to everybody. He loves to help others be happy. And he is our favorite boy in the whole world!

Happy birthday, Bud! We love you!

Our sweet little Bianca Reine turned 2 years old this past Tuesday! However, we were all, and she especially, laid up with a stomach bug; so we didn’t actually celebrate her birthday at all until Thursday. It was very convenient that she is young enough not to care about the change.

She had a list of birthday plans. If you asked her about her birthday leading up to it, and even afterwards, she would say “Candles. Ice-cream. Cookies. Yummy.” It is probably the cutest thing anyone will ever hear!

Anyway, to help you get to know Bianca a little bit here are some fun facts about her at this stage of her life.

• She is just a happy girl! Like anyone, she has her moments of rage, but most of the time she is smiling and excited to do basically anything!
• She loves playing at the park (especially the big slides), going on rides in the red car, taking care of baby dolls, and playing pretend.
• She normally eats about 4 breakfasts each morning. It makes for tough blood sugar management.
• She adores her older siblings, and they all adore her.
• She is talking more and more all the time! She is a little parrot of things the kids say, and that we parents say. It is the cutest to hear her sing songs and chastise the dog.

She is also probably the cutest diabetic the world has ever seen. Diabetes definitely does NOT define this girl; but she knows that it is something that sets her apart a little. Some adorable examples of her owning this disease are:

• When Portia first started getting shots at meals, Bianca would hold out her arm and exclaim that she was the one who got shots (in a one-year-old way).
• Once, when Helen was pretending to be a diabetic raccoon (yes, you read that right), Bianca emphatically declared “Uh MY betes!”
• Sometimes when we approach her with her needle, she’ll scoot away and adorably say “No dose!”
• When she wants a candy or fruit snack or something, she will tell everybody “My low!” (Meaning “I’m low”.) The kids joke that she should name her first son Milo.
• When she is getting a shot, she will sometimes hold out her hand to somebody and say “Brave.” Meaning she needs somebody to hold her hand to help her be brave.

I realize that probably some people will feel uncomfortable hearing about how a baby deals with the realities of something as invasive as type 1 diabetes; but I feel like this is the perfect example of a situation where you will either laugh about it or cry about it. Bianca’s joyful temperament and chubby little cuteness make it so much easier to laugh about!

Bianca is a super joy in our lives! We love every minute we have with her!

Our gorgeous Helen turned 4 years old yesterday! Her requested decor was raccoons. We did our best.

Helen’s birthday planning usually coincides with Portia’s because their birthdays are two days apart. Portia had very specific plans for all her birthday meals about a month in advance; but Helen took things slow. I did get her to pick out a breakfast before-hand so we could have it ready when we got up; but it wasn’t until about 11:00AM that Helen could be persuaded to pick a lunch, and about 4:30 when she chose her dinner. And with her birthday being on a Saturday, we offered her a choice of anything she wanted to spend the day doing, and all she said was that she wanted to play with her new kinetic sand. So that’s kind of all we did. Helen has always been quite easy going, and we love it!

But we must not forget that she is also Helen Raccoon. She definitely still loves raccoons and can frequently indulge in some raccoon mischief. It is fun that of all the things she could choose to get really excited about, she chose raccoons.

Another thing Helen LOVES is preschool! Anything that happens at preschool or that comes home from preschool is the best thing that ever could have happened! When there’s a new month and a calendar comes home, she immediately puts it on the fridge and we say the poem on the back together. When they learned about doctors and dentists and she brought home a toothbrush, she immediately ran up to the bathroom to replace her old toothbrush with her new, better, preschool toothbrush. And when she received a little paint set from preschool for her birthday, she came home declaring over and over that she was an artist and that she needed to paint immediately! And she assured me that she wouldn’t mix colors. I love when I get to walk her to and from preschool because she is at her very happiest!

Some other tidbits about Helen are:

• She really likes things that are hers. She understands that a lot of things we play with must be shared, and she doesn’t mind sharing. But she loves when she can claim something as all her own.
• She loves jumping on the tramp, reading stories, and going on walks, and riding her bike when it’s warm enough.
• She consistently dislikes sauces on her foods. Ketchup, mayo, salad dressing, etc. are all emphatically declined. However, she does make exceptions for gravy and pasta sauce.
• Helen LOVES the song “I Love to See the Temple.” We sing it together every time we can see the temple from the car, and at least once every Sunday, and several other times throughout the week. I love that about her.

Ever since Helen was about 6 days old we’ve called her Helenator as a nick name. And some time between then and now I began calling her Helenator, My Favorite Flavor! If anybody asks her “Who’s our favorite flavor?” She will always respond with a big “Me!”

She’s absolutely right.