Abby's Critters

Abby's world currently revolves around these fuzzy, little animals called Calico Critters. She spends every possible minute arranging them in fun ways and imagining scenarios (sometimes soap-opera-like ones) for their lives. One of her favorite parts of our camping trip in September was making bark boats for the Critters to sail on. She always has a new Critter stapled to her chore chart, which she spends a few weeks earning.

These Critters seem to be exceptionally knowledgeable and opionionated, as far as toys go. Abby often says, "My Critters told me that" when we ask her where she learned something, or "My Critters said that I can't" when we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do. It's an interesting phenomenon! (As a not-so-incidental side note, if I had known about Calico Critters at her age, my world would have revolved around them too!)

Grown-Up Katie

At 9 months-old, Katie is so proud of her new standing skills! She can't stand to be sitting, if there is anything in sight to be standing next to. This has caused some consternation for Big Sister Abby, however, who included in the family prayer tonight, "Please bless that Katie can learn to kneel during the prayer and not stand." Nothing gets past Abby!

About Me . . .

My friend Lorena "tagged" me on her blog, so now I get to answer these questions about myself! And, to avoid creating a post with no pictures, I'm including Abby and Katie--modeling their Halloween costumes a little early.

Places I've Lived:

-Torrance, CA (age 0-2)
-Salt Lake City, UT (most of my life)
-Toronto, Canada (age 8-10)
-Provo, UT (4 1/2 years at BYU)
-Jerusalem, Israel (age 19, semester abroad)
-Eastern Ukraine (LDS mission)
-Spokane, WA (present)

Jobs I've Had:

-Orange Julius worker (good motivation to finish high school and go to college!)
-Counselor and coordinator at Academy for Girls (it's been discontinued now, but it was a Church youth program, like EFY)
-Employee of a temporary agency (I did everything from assembling frozen burritos to laying sod . . . another great motivator to finish college!)
-MTC teacher
-Store secretary at Deseret Book
-Secretary at the LDS Church Office Building
-Nanny for two little girls (with Abby as my "helper")
-Piano teacher

Most-Loved Vacations:

-Two European Tours: one with my parents and my sister Liza, when they picked me up from my mission; and one with Luke, two years into our marriage, to visit Ukraine (where we met), Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany
-Our honeymoon in Hawaii
-Annual trip to Balboa Island, CA, with my dad's side of the family (a 60-year tradition now!)
-Many fun trips to St. George, UT, with the Boyers and to the Colorado cabin with the Linscotts
-Boating trips growing up, mostly to Lake Powell and Lake Mead
-A trip to the East Coast with my sister Liza to visit our older sisters, Melissa (in Pennsylvania) and Lindsay (in Virginia), when I was expecting Abby

Lifetime Aspirations:

-Excel the very best I can as: a follower of Jesus Christ, a wife, a mother, a family member, and a friend.

-Be a lifelong learner . . . and teacher.

-Stay healthy and active (i.e. exercise enough each day to burn off any chocolate I might have eaten!).

-Someday return to Ukraine with Luke to visit the Kiev temple. (It was announced in 1998, before our missions, but ground was just broken this year. The Ukrainian government specializes in "red tape.")

-With Luke, pay off all of our education loans before it's time to retire!

Best Advice I've Ever Received:
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowlege him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

(By the way, this is Carrie writing, although it says "posted by Luke" at the bottom!)

Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday, we went with some friends, the Sheffields, to a pumpkin patch. We enjoyed picking out some Halloween pumpkins, navigating a kid-sized hay-bale maze, and even watching the huge pumpkin cannon that launched pumpkins into a far-off field (they call it "chunkin' punkins!"). It was a beautiful autumn day and a fun way to enjoy the season.

Sisterly Love

Here we see Abby, literally at Katie's throat . . . and Katie using her only method of retaliation: sucking Abby's arm with those strong, toothless gums.

In a more harmonious moment, the girls enjoy reading a story together. Such are the ups and downs of sisterly love.

Little Laundry Helper

One of my favorite quotes is from Erma Bombeck:

"Housework, if you do it right, will kill you."

Here is a shot of Katie proving this theory correct by attempting to singlehandedly undo an afternoon's worth of laundry in about 10 minutes!

The Great Outdoors!

Luke recently took a week off of work, and we really made the most of it! We drove to Glacier National Park, Montana, for three days and stayed in this cute, little cabin just outside the park. This was camping in style! We cooked outside, but inside we had two beds, a heater, and a refrigerator. We had clean, beautiful, (flushing!) bathrooms in a building just a few trees away.





Here is Abby playing with a friendly chipmunk on our hike to Avalanche Lake. The most exciting wildlife we saw in Glacier was a black bear, but we weren't able to get a picture of it. (It had gone out of sight by the time we stopped the car and got out.)




Here we are on a hike to McDonald Falls. Abby and Katie spent quite a bit of time bundled up in the backpacks, but they were troopers! The trails we hiked were lush and beautiful.


Here are Katie and Daddy at Avalanche Lake, and Katie with Mama on the trail.

After the Glacier trip, we came home for a day and a half, frantically tried to reorganize everything, then left on a second trip to the Cascade Mountains here in Washington. We met Luke's Grandpa Al and his Uncle Paul in the town of Leavenworth, about 3 1/2 hours from here, then headed out of town a few miles to the Icicle River to set up camp for three days. We did a lot of hiking and had a great time! The nights were cold, especially the last one, but we bundled up and managed to stay warm. Below is a view of the beautiful Cascades in their autumn colors.









Abby snoozing on Daddy's back.

























Katie and Great-Grandpa hanging out at Lake Stuart. At 82 years-old, Great-Grandpa put us all to shame with his hiking skills!

The whole group at Lake Stuart: Grandpa Al, Katie, Luke, Carrie, Abby, and Uncle Paul.

Abby playing in the red tent, where she and Daddy stayed; the four of us enjoying a lunch break on the Lake Stuart hike.


The six of us enjoying the Autumn Leaf Festival in Leavenworth on our way home. We didn't know the festival was going to be that day, but it was fun! There was a great parade that we watched as we ate lunch. Leavenworth is a really cute town, designed to look like a Bavarian village---complete with real mountain goats to pet!


These were great trips! I must say, though, I've had a whole new appreciation this week for my warm bed, hot showers, a microwave, etc. I think I would have been a really hearty pioneer . . . for about a week.