Dunch...or is it Linner?

It's that meal that comes between lunch and dinner. I had planned to go out for a quiet 'welcome home' lunch with Lane at Los Hermanos. Then the noon hour turned into 3:00 (Rebecca had a late nap). And a quiet lunch turned into a family party! Well, the more the merrier, right? It was really fun. Rebecca looks so tiny in that chair and Natalie is staring at Papa's money clip:
Uncle Laner and Rebecca are good friends. They point at stuff together:

Here are my hottie brothers texting their girlfriends:
Mimi and Papa love their grandaughters! Rebecca is giving cute Nataile "huggies". This is right before she stuck her finger in Natalie's ear and made her cry (sorry Natalie):

"Ooooh, look at that bird!"
Bye, bye!

The End of an Era

For the past 11 months, I have been a working mom! During the school year, I taught Computers (which was a surprise...I thought I would be a reading specialist) and I'm now teaching reading in Summer School. It's my very last week! And I won't be back to teaching next year. I get to stay home with our girlie :)

Here I was at school today with my new haircut (in curly mode). I got 8 inches chopped off and I love it! But this post isn't about me...is it? Hmmmm....ANYways, it was a hard decision on whether I would go back after having Rebecca. But we decided I would go back for one last year. I'm so glad I did. I really enjoyed it. I LOVE teaching and I LOVE kids. I've been doing it for over 9 years now. Some days were hard, like times when Rebecca had a rough night and I had to pull her out of bed in the morning. It was especially hard when we still lived in our condo and I had to take her out in the freezing world to a cold car. But most days, things were just fine. I had the opportunity to work with amazing people and super kids. And since I just worked part-time, I KNOW it helped me in this transition from a working woman to a mommy.

So, who watched Rebecca, you ask?? Well, a few times Taunte Kristin, Aunt Emily, and good friends Sherry and Kristi Garrett took care of her. Omi Birgit and Grandpa Jim came down from Brigham City whey they could. But mostly...Mimi Rosemary and Papa John were the ones to watch the cutie! They happen to live minutes away from Hillcrest. It was SO nice for me to have the best of both worlds. A job I enjoyed, and knowing that our girl was being loved and cared for.
I went to my parent's house during my lunch. My angel mother would have a sandwich and my little girl waiting for me :) I was so spoiled. And so was Rebecca! She has so many toys all around their house. My poor dad, who dislikes clutter, sure has lived with his fair share from Rebecca these past months! Thanks mom, for pretty much dropping your "life" for our girl. Thanks for reading to her, playing with her, meeting all of her basic needs, and for loving her. We have one happy girl and that is partly thanks to you. Jorg and I are SO grateful to you. You never once complained and were always HAPPY to see us. Thank you, thank you...we love you! And We Like It!

P.S. I know you miss her already, so you rest assured that you will have other opportunities to tend her in the future :) xoxoxoxo

The Humble Ditch Diggers

The sprinklers are in! Jim and Birgit have been staying with us, on and off, for the past few weeks to work on this project. They were amazing. They worked SO hard and often in the heat. Jorg and I helped VERY LITTLE and we were still sore and tired. These two worked tirelessly. I am sooo in awe with them. Here is the result!

Taking a break with Omi and Grandpa:

Rebecca and I are watching the work in progress:

Jorg got to handle the heavy machinery:

Muchos Gracias you two!
Next step: G R A S S !

"The Sillier, the better!" or Silly Part IV

That's what Jorg always says when referring to the amusements of our Rebecca. Speaking of the little stinker, this morning I was standing in the playroom giving Jorg a good morning hug. Rebecca started really whining. She was jealous! So we picked her up for a group hug. Well, that was not what she had in mind. She PUSHED me away! With the palm of her little hand pressing on my face. I couldn't believe it. We tried it again with the same result. Oh MY...she loves her daddy. It was so funny. And too cute for me to get upset. Even though...she stole my man!

It's a Girl!!

Congratulations to us! In September we will be called Tante Emily and Onkel Jorg! ;) Thanks for this honor, Kristin and Michael! We are soooo excited! And so is cousine Rebecca...

Photo Soot with Aunt Emily

Playing on Mimi and Papa's slide...
Rebecca loves to smell flowers. It's adorable when she sniffs them.
How big is Rebecca? SOOooooo big!!

Me and my sunshine...
Here she is with cousin Natalie. She is SUCH a cute baby. I love her! Here is Rebecca "petting" her...

Check out more photos on Emily's Photo Blog! I can't stop looking at my whole CD of pictures. I'm trying to choose which ones to frame. Almost impossible. She was so good at catching those shots of our VERY busy Rebecca. If all ya'll even knew half of the shenanigans Emily had to go through to get these shots, you would be even more impressed than you already are. She is amazing. We has so much fun :)

Happy 97th Grandma!!

Just look how cute she is! I love her so much, and even though she doesn't have the greatest short-term memory at this time in her life (asking many times, "Who are you again? and then, "Oh yah!") I still feel so good just being around her. She is one of the most self-less and sweet people I have ever known. I have such good memories of living close to her as a child and visiting for Sunday dinner or going over to swim at her neighborhood pool in the summer time. She loved, and still loves, to have her grandkids around. She made THE BEST sweetrolls. Yum! And always collected her change to give to us so we could buy a pop at the swimming pool. I love you, grandma! Happy Birthday!Four Generations (taken last summer):

Child Labor

When I was little, my parents gave me chores and responsibilities. On occasion, I worked with a bad attitude ;) On those days, I was convinced that my parents only had kids so they wouldn't have to do the all work. I couldn't wait to have kids of my own so they could do the work! Well, now we have little Rebecca. Here she is doing the yard work. Luckily, she has a great attitude. See how happy she is:She's very good with the equipment:

She also enjoys doing the laundry. She takes out the wash:
And don't you just love it when the clothes come out of the dryer and they're all warm? Rebecca does too:
Now it's time for sorting and folding! I told her that if she makes the folds neat, we will go for ice cream later.
What a great kid we've got! Now Jorg and I have plenty of time for those hobbies we had previously set aside. Like, playing Mario 3 on the Nintendo Wii. Thanks, Rebecca!

Little Wendover

We took a little road trip with our little family to a little place called Wendover! Doesn't that sound exciting?? It was very exciting. Yes, it really was. Don't believe me? Well, I'm sorry. You just had to be there! We took the scenic route through Eagle Mountain. It was cool to behold the flip-side of the mountains we see daily.
Here we are at our destination in Wendover. This picture didn't work out as we planned, but I think it's neat-o with our reflections on the hood.
We ate at the Peppermill buffet. It was pretty good (better than I thought it would be). Jorg "got lost going to the restroom" and I think he won a dollar. I told you it was exciting!

Here are the Salt Flats.

And near the end of our trip. Behold...the rainbow!!

Rebecca slept most of the way (thank goodness) because when she was awake, she was a little ornery. Except when she was showing off at the buffet. She is a very cute and friendly girl. She was the only baby in the casino. Can you imagine? People don't take their children to casinos! What a crazy world :)

We like it!!

P.S. We also saw "floating mountains" from our car window. Here is the explanation from Wikipedia. It was an amazing sight!
"Each rainfall erases tire marks and flattens the densely-packed salt pan that is inhospitable to plants. The area is extremely flat and aligned nearly perfectly with the shape of Earth, allowing visitors to see the curvature of the planet by producing an optical illusion that makes many of the mountains within the vicinity appear to be floating in the air since their bases are on the other side of the curve and thus out of sight."

Adelaide

She's here! My cousin, Marianne, had her baby on Sunday. Excellent birthing, Maroo! She is gorgeous. Congratulations Mar and Jesse!

Uncle Laner...

...has returned! You can see more photos on Em and Jon's blog! It's so good to have him back! I love you soooooooooo, Tumness Laner Sunshine! And I'm very proud of my brother :)

Meeting Uncle Laner: "Hey mom, he's even more handsome than that picture I kiss before bed every night!"

And this picture makes me really happy. We're all together again, horray!!

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Tante Berit

Happy Birthday, Aunt Berit!

Rebecca moechte Tante Berit ALLES GUTE ZUM GEBURTSTAG WUENSCHEN. Sie freut sich sehr, dass Tante Berit immer an sie denkt und sie hat sich sehr ueber die Postkarte aus Mexiko gefreut, die 32 Tage unterwegs war!

Deutschland by: Jorg

I just got back from a business trip in Germany. It was so cute to see Emily and Rebecca at the Airport. I got lots of presents for them.

In the picture you see the future soccer star for Germany in the World Championships 2027!

Woof!

"Look, mom! Some dogs!" Here's our girl this past Monday at the local grocery store. She's my little buddy. We like it!

What's she doing?

That's what Jorg and I asked each other when we saw Rebecca doing this:We bought her the ball a week ago at the grocery store. We have been teaching her how to play "pass" and bouncing it around.
So, see that black exercise ball (in the picture below)? Jorg and I sit on the ball and roll over it (stretching, doing sit-ups, or just for fun) all the time. It seems our baby found herself an exercise ball just her size! When we realized what she was doing, we laughed so hard!
And then we got out the camera. Oh, how we love her!

Saturday Hike

We went up to Slate Canyon for a hike! We like it! It's my old stomping grounds. I lived just below the canyon as a single gal, in Mar and Jesse's condo (renting), with Kim and Abby! I loved living there. And it was fun to take the same path I took many times, with my two sweethearts. It's crazy where life takes you (me, in this case). Crazy! And, I might add...very, very pleasant.

Alphabet Soup

A to Z Tag

I got tagged by my cute and talented new cousin, Laura (the wife of Pete)!

Attached or Single: Attached to the sweet lovin' of Jorgi Smorgi
Best Friend: Starts with a 'J' ends with an 'orgi Smorgi'
Cake or Pie: Just make it chocolate and I'm there.
Day of Choice: Saturday. I love Saturday. I like the life of leisure. I rarely shower on Saturday and I don't get dressed until after noon, if I can help it!
Essential Item: diaper bag. Plenty of binkie's. (She was off the "bink-a-bink" except for sleeping. Until last week when she got sick. The bink is back.) and I also feel weird leaving the house without wearing some kind of jewelry. I do love my accessories!
Favorite Color: light blue (with pink accents - like polka dots or flowers or something)
Gummy Bears or Worms: both. But if it's gummy bears, make them cinnamon and covered in chocolate. I like the ones at the BYU bookstore.
Hometown: Orem, Utah
Indulgences: The 'suitcase of joy' containing Jorg's imported German deliciousness. I help myself on unrare occasions.
January or July: July. I love the Freedom Festival at Provo. And the Stadium of Fire. When I was a kid, the 4th of July was like Christmas. I would get so excited, I couldn't sleep the night before.
Kids: I love to squish their little cheeks! They're wise and fresh and funny. I love being a teacher (I have only one month left and signed my letter of resignation today. Crazy!) and I LOVE being a mom. Jorg and I hope to be blessed with 4-5 cuties. Though we are so happy with ours right now, it's hard to be motived to have more. But don't worry, we will!
Life is incomplete without: family and eternal perspective
Marriage Date: March 17, 2006
Number of Siblings: 2 sisters, 3 brothers, 2 new sisters, and 1 new brother (in-law).
Oranges or Apples: both
Phobias or Fears: not really
Quote: "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never get bent out of shape!" also, "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured" -President Hinklay
Reason to Smile: REBECCA. Oh Rebecca, How I love your smiles and huggies and enthusiasm for life!
Something New: Our house
Tag: Mel, Janee, Melis, Heidi, Lori, anyone else who wants to do this. It's fun!
Unknown Fact About Me: I have a magnet collection and I try to pick one up whenever I go on a vacation.
Vegetarian or Oppressor Of Animal: I like meat, yes I do!
Worst Habit: Sometimes I talk too much when I'm excited
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I've had both. I broke my pinkie finger (well, my brother Lane broke it while we were wrestling).
Your Favorite Food: German chocolate, any ice cream, Cafe Rio salad
Zoo Animal: I once watched a cute Polar Bear at the San Diego Zoo, with my family, for close to an hour. Any of you remember that? He was under water and there was a window. He was playing with a ball. It was just the cutest thing!

I Can't Get Enough

Of our birthday girl! She has been sick the entire week. I feel so bad for her. And I also feel bad for the parents (that's us). How do you parents deal with sick kids?? We only have one. I can only imagine what it's like with more! It's like she's a newborn all over again. She wants to be held all of the time and wakes up tons in the night. She's on the mend (thankfully). She has been smiling more and whining less. We take that as a good sign.

Here are the rest of the pages from her birthday. Again, my camera isn't that great (it may be time for an upgrade?) so the pictures are kind of dark. I fixed them the best I could. I love that cake face :)