We missed Paul a lot in September. He would go to El Paso during the week and drive home for the weekends. Anna, being a total Daddy's girl, missed him plenty.
We celebrated Paul's 31st birthday when he was home one weekend. Of course the girls were more excited than anyone.
Hattie gave him a new cycling jersey, which she picked out all by herself. Paul was shocked at the color...not his typical style. But Hattie loves it and at least the cars will see him.
Books and games always make my husband happy.
And just 6 days later is Hattie's birthday. I can't believe she's four.
These little animals from Grandma were an instant favorite.
And, oddly enough, Hattie had been asking for a magnifying glass for months.
And what 4 year old girl will complain about a Strawberry Shortcake remote controlled car?
We had a party with friends to celebrate...Her buddy Juliet has a birthday just a few days later so the party was for both of them.
It was a rainbow/unicorn party.
Giving each kid their own helium balloon was the best idea ever...they loved them.
We made unicorn bags to take their treats home in.
Anna needed a little extra help pinning the horn on the unicorn.
And the pinata was certainly a highlight. Not surprisingly, the only 5 year old invited was the one to bust it open.
Anna could only lift the bat by holding it backwards.
And what party is complete without cake!
I love my little Hattie who is growing up so fast. She loves to play with friends. Every day she asks who is coming over to play. And she could spend hours every day at her desk coloring, coloring, gluing, and taping. She is always making books for family and friends. She has also decided that she will be doing her hair from now on, much to my dismay, especially since she does nothing to it and refuses to let me touch it. She is a very good sister to Anna, and is always telling me how she is going to help me with baby brother...changing diapers, giving bottles, and playing with him. She always is singing and making up songs. I think she will have a very beautiful voice as she grows up. She really is growing into a wonderful little girl. Love you Hattie!
We loved living in Utah before, and one of our favorite things to do was going up American Fork Canyon for a picnic. We are trying to keep that tradition alive.
We invited our friends the Peterson's along for one such picnic. They used to live in Lubbock...Callie was one of Hattie's best friends. Of course, I didn't take any pictures of adults. We miss the Petersons! It was great to have some game nights with them again.
Another highlight was the Gateway Discovery Museum...and they could have stayed all day.
Anna didn't quite get how the construction center worked, hence the tears.
We visited our favorite game store, where Anna lined up all the babies. She is obsessed I tell you!
We also went to Heritage Park at the "This is the place" monument. I had never been there before. I only intended to go for a couple of hours, but we spent almost the whole day there. The girls loved it and we could have stayed longer. They loved the pony rides, petting zoo, miniature village, Brooklyn replica, panning for gold, eating ice cream, making arrowhead necklaces, and riding the train.
While in Utah, we stayed at my uncle Len's house. He is always so wonderful and generous for letting us stay there. He doesn't have any toys, so on the days we stayed home, the girls tried to stay busy doing other things...like unpacking all our clothes and making a bed of them, for example.
We also went to the Hogle Zoo with Jenni Pratt, another Lubbock friend who has moved to Utah. Somehow we didn't take many pictures there...
And we also went to Thanksgiving Point with the Petersons. The girls were anxious for their pony ride...
I was also able to see a lot of old friends from my BYU days, but somehow forgot to take pictures. Why do I only think to take pictures of my kids and not my friends? Anyway, we were sad to leave the west and head back to Texas...but it was so nice to be back in my own house with my own things and to not live out of a suitcase.
Besides these more exciting highlights, we have just been busy around here. Paul spent the month of September in El Paso, and the month of October in Dallas, both times doing a radiology rotation at the hospital there. So I had plenty of alone time. Gratefully we were able to see him a lot on the weekends. Now he is traveling all over the country doing residency interviews. I feel like a travel agent/secretary. My spare time is spent buying plane tickets, reserving hotel rooms, coordinating interview details, and preparing a travel itinerary for him. For example, he is currently driving to Temple, Texas for an interview tomorrow. He'll drive home tomorrow (Saturday) night, catch a flight Sunday morning for Richmond, VA, and interview in Richmond on Monday. Immediately after the interview, he has to go to the airport to catch a flight to Fargo, ND, where he'll interview on Tuesday. Again, as soon as that interview is over, he flies to Wichita, KS for an interview on Wednesday. That evening he'll fly home to Lubbock. But Thursday morning he has to put in a 1/2 day shift in the ER, before leaving that afternoon to drive to El Paso for an interview on Friday. And that concludes the madness for the week. I think we have about 3 or 4 weeks like that scheduled, with a different town every day, usually a different state. Although all the planning is stressful, it's exciting that we are getting closer to finding out where we'll be living once he graduates. Hurrah!
