Swim time

We had a lot of fun going swimming with at Cory's dad's house. Mindy and Tiger were there as well, of course, along with Mindy's family. It was great fun. The night started out with a great dinner (thanks guys!). Then we hit the pool, woo! Lexi had a great time, which was nice since kids under five had been banned from public pools for the last part of the summer. Lexi loved hanging in the pool with all the kids, Mindy has some great neices and nephews. Lexi loves them! It was a fun night, and at the end, Lexi got to wear her new warm long-sleeved t-shirt. Best. Night. Ever.

New Alexis posts

A couple of new posts on Alexis's page, with pics. Click on her link on the right to see!

The Hemmen Girls!

I've had these pics for over a month now, and finally I can post them! My mom and I went to visit my sister and her daughter, Rachel, in Seattle at the beginning of August. We had a photoshoot with a very talented but completely mental photographer. SIX HOURS! Six hours to get our pictures done! It's a good thing they turned out so well or else I think my mom may have strangled him. I couldn't post them until today because the pictures were a surprise for my dad's birthday, which was yesterday. Aren't we all gorgeous?

Making a House a Home... one room at a time.

We have a great house... I love it! But it's very big, and needs a lot of stuff to fill it. But we bought the BIG house, with little money left for the stuff. So, the process is little by little, step by step. The family room is basically how I want it, with room for more small touches if as time goes by I find something that moves me. The livingroom is wanting only for a couch. The dining room is GREAT as it is, you know, minus a dining table ;). I had a design idea strike me today as I looked up at our hall upstairs where I will now put up black and white photographs of cities scenes... The guest bath and guest room are done, mostly just because I don't feel like doing much with them. I'll add more photos as I do more with this house. You know, as time goes by...

The Table... It's DONE!

I finally did it! Got the table painted and brought in to the livingroom. It looks just as good as I always imagined. It doesn't "feel" quite as good, but by golly, it was just so hard to sand! Next time I'm looking into the primer that Heidi recommended, because the final product is great but I hated the process. So now, with the addition of the sewing table, my livingroom just needs a couch to be complete.

We have a GARAGE! Woo!

For the past couple of months we've had the third car spot in our third car garage filled with random messy boxes from the move. FINALLY, we spent a day and put up shelves and organized everything. We still have some empty boxes in there, but those we're saving for Tom and Suzie's move in a couple of weeks. After that, we'll actually have room for a third small car if/when we have guests. Coolness! Ryan and Heidi, Justin and Jenny, Dick and Rosanne.... I think your cars want to come visit! Hint hint.

GOLF

Today Cory and I golfed in an Oracle tournament at Thanksgiving Point. It was a blast! This is the third tournament I have done at this golf course. The game was a scramble and my team finished 4 under par. Oracle sponsors gave away a ton of awesome gifts and took care of each of us on the course. The third person on our team, Steve won the longest marshmellow drive and won the Beer Keg Hat and Beer googles that I gladly modeled.

Although Firstline has not renewed their Golf perk for operations, I still have increased my golf skill with the few holes I have played this year. It is nice to finally have some control over where the ball will land.

Dental Dramas

Lexi had her first trip to the dentist on Friday. She had started crying during meals, so we were worried there was something wrong with her teeth. You would think that after her frequent trips to medical offices for her ears she would be used to it, but boy is she not. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The second we walked into the waiting room, she looked around and knew instantly what was up. Her radar was UP! And then once she saw the dentist's chair (which unforunately is very similar to the chairs they have in ENT offices), it was all over. She was crying and desperately waving "bye-bye", pleading with me with her face to get her the heck out of there. Sadly that was not an option. We skipped the x-rays, but the dentist and I were able to hold her down for an examination and cleaning. We went to a dentist who specializes in pediatric dentistry only, so he's very experienced working with crying little ones, and was amazingly fast and efficient. Good news: no cavities! Bad news: her gums bled a bit too easily (we need to brush her teeth for her as much as we let her do it herself), and all of her two-year molars and coming in, and he said they look awfully painful, which explains the crying. So in the end, she survived, and come out with a toy frog and a brand new toothbrush, one of favorite toys! And with the help of Motrin, she's eating a bit better these last few days. So, the dentist is done. Well, for six months, at least...

Labor Day

Liz, Alexis and I drove up to Cascade Springs today up the American Fork Canyon. It was a really nice drive, and we completed the entire Alpine Loop. We left our house in Lehi, drove up American Fork Canyon onto the Alpine Loop. We took the 7 mile detour to Cascade Springs then back onto the Alpine Loop past Sundance Ski Resort and out the Provo Canyon.

Once Alexis started to see the water, she just wanted in. Nothing else was fun except her pulling and prying to get any part of her body in that water. At the bottom of the springs there was a small stream that the public was welcome to play in. She loved it. The water was really cold, but Alexis stood through the pain until she was numb. Then it was all about [icking up rocks at the bottom of the stream and throwing them back into the water, over and over again. I let her throw the rocks as long as no other innocent child came within her throwing distance. The only victim was me, and ...Ouch!

Unfortunately, this trip lost all of its joy when we tried to get Alexis to leave. She absolutely had a fit. She did not want to go and made it clear by screaming the entire walk back to the parking lot and half the trip back down the canyon. She did finally get over it but that fit lasted a very long time.

Anyway, Cascade was a lot of fun and the Aspen Loop is awesome and very relaxing. It is so close, but always seems so very far away. Click on the picture below to view all the shots we got today.

Labor Day