"Uncle Shoe and Question"

My brother Aaron and his friend Christian are visiting from Seattle. "Uncle Shoe" is what Spencer called Aaron forever and it has just stuck. We are finally starting to say Uncle Aaron more but "Uncle Shoe" still pops out from time to time. Whenever Ella says Christian, it sounds like "Question." She adores both of them and always asks where they are and what they are doing. We have had a lot of fun having them here. Lucky for me they are painting the house for us - which is a complete lifesaver (or should I say lucky for Lance)??

Game Ball

Fall baseball has been quite something else. Every year Spencer has played baseball in the spring, soccer in the fall, and Tae Kwon Do year round. We stopped TKD after our move (he has his jr. black belt) and Spencer decided he wanted to play baseball year round. In the past he has been one of the better players on his team. We had no idea when we signed up for fall baseball that these kids meant serious business. We went from a team who spent their pre-game time tickling each other to a team who has hour long drills before each game and SUPER intense parents who are living vicariously through their kids. One mom even kicks, screams, and completely loses it if her kid misses a ball. Seriously. Anyway, at the start of the season Spencer was definitely behind. We talked to him about it and he said he didn't care he just wanted to play ball. He has worked very very hard this season and has improved tremendously. Last Saturday he was the first kid to get a second "game ball." If you don't know what that is, at the end of the game the coach picks the kid he thinks deserves the ball. I am so proud of Spencer for perservering and never giving up. It has been a good season.

New Calling

This past Sunday I was called to be the Young Women's Secretary. It is kind of bittersweet. While I absolutely LOVE being in YW, if I hadn't gotten sick I would be teaching seminary right now. I just stayed for opening exercises this Sunday (the pain has started again - so I had to go home), but it seems like a wonderful bunch of girls. I am excited to get to know them all.

Toilet Water Anyone?

Ella has been sneaking into my bathroom at night and getting into my makeup. We know she is up to no good when the door is locked. Two nights ago, she was in there being very quiet with the door locked. We were expecting a huge mess but when we got in there it was clean except for a few paper cups on the floor. I moved her into bed and talked to her for a few moments. This is how our conversation went:

Me: You can't go into mommy's bathroom and lock the door.
Ella: I got a cup and drank, and drank, and drank.
Me: What did you drink?
Ella: Water.
Me: Oh, did daddy get you water?
Ella: No I got it.
Me: Did you get water from the sink?
Ella: No.
Me: Where did you get the water from?
Ella: The toilet - it has lots of water. I drank, and drank, and drank.

Fun, huh?

BEAUTIFUL NATALIE

My cousin April had her baby!!! (It has been awhile since I last posted). Natalie Elizabeth Taylor was born on September 28th. It was amazing at the hospital how many different generations of my family I could see in her face. We all thought she was going to be tiny since April gained hardly any weight during the pregnancy - but she was 8 lbs. 4 oz. April looked beautiful as always at the hospital - I'm a little bitter about it since I looked like a train wreck when both my kids were born :)