Family Photo Book

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Back to School

Today I entered my 4th institute of higher learning. I am pursuing a degree in Health Promotions at Weber State. Lots of people have asked why I am going to Weber. Well, they have a great online program, especially for my major. I registered late and didn't get into all the online classes this semester, so I am heading up 3 times a week for class. Hopefully next semester it will be less. I'm assuming this is my last school as an undergrad and I am being very positive about it. I liked my first class and am excited about the program.

New computer

On Friday Marc and I decided we finally needed to break down and get a new computer. We have only had one computer for the last year or so. Many have wondered how we have survived. We also wonder this. Since I am starting school on Monday, there was nothing to be done. Marc went online and found the one we wanted and we packed up the girls and headed down to the Mac store at the Gateway. heWs decided on the 13" Macbook Pro. Plus being a student, I got $100 off the computer and a free iPod touch for the purchase. As I am writing this, both computers are occupied with transfering data and I am blogging from my iTouch. I love new toys! The I only negative thing about the whole experience was the busyness of the Mac store. We waited for 30+ minutes before we were even helped. They are really understaffed there. If anyone is going to buy Mac products, I would suggest buying online unless you want it that day.

Sick

On Saturday Claire had severe congestion and had difficulty sleeping. Marc also started getting a case of 'the ickies.' On Sunday it was my turn, along with Alice. Their congestion was so bad, and they were so snotty that they would vomit from swallowing all their mucus (the first barf was all over Marc). After this happened a few times I called the pediatrician on Monday. She wanted to have the girls come in so were could make sure there wasn't something more serious going on (i.e. swine flu, ear infections, etc). All was well, but we were informed that there was basically nothing we could do for them except ride it out. So we have been wiping noses, sucking boogies, and giving Tylenol when necessary. Claire has been napping a lot and Alice just wants her dad. Alice has been going without her braces at night so she can lay on her side. (With her braces on she can only lay on her back). We are all getting better and are no longer super snotty or contagious. We actually feel pretty lucky that we have made it 10.5 months before the first cold.

Swingin

Clark Family Reunion

Last week, most of my mom's family were in town for a reuinion between my grandparent's missions. On Friday everyone came up to my house to build and replace the bridge. It was the original bridge that my great-grandfather Jeppson built. Several slats had been replaced along the way, but it was tilting badly and was just ready to retire. The new bridge is quite nice, made out of the Trex composite material, so it will last forever. We moved the old bridge further down the stream for a fun way to get over to the island but not get heavy use. My grandpa also replaced several broken slats in the old bridge to make it safe. Several stone steps were reset on the hill going down to the creek that had come out of place. Overall it looks great. On Saturday everyone went up to the Summit County Fair in Coalville, we went briefly, but didn't participate in any festivities. On Sunday my grandparents spoke in church and gave really great talks about missionary work. Afterwords everyone came up for dinner and socializing. It is always fun to see the family, especially when they have new babies and kids that are growing up so fast.

Bob

In June we were having a small mouse infestation and were at our wits end of how to get rid of them. The most obvious solution (get a cat), was repulsive to Marc because of his allergies and general aversion to animals. I share this aversion, but don't mind cats. After Marc killed one mouse, and a trap caught another one, Marc caved and I began perusing Craigslist to find a cat. I followed in the example of Lauren and got a free cat/carrier/litter box/food/toys/cat condo. Lauren was given $60 to take care of their cat, but I think I did pretty good, especially for the cat condo. We took the cat home and he disappeared for 2 weeks. The only way I knew he hadn't run away was the fact that the food would disappear and the litter box was being used. After 2 weeks he started sitting on his condo and cautiously coming out of the laundry room. We then saw him around the basement, and now he has free reign of the house. In fact, he is so friendly now he doesn't leave us alone and if we shut him in the laundry room he just meows until we let him out. He also sleeps in our bed with us (I should say me, because Marc gets mad if he gets too close). He is also great with the girls, he just lays there as they pull his fur and ears. I actually think he likes the attention.

The previous owners named him Tree (I don't know why), but we changed his name to Bob Wylie. He earned this name because he is completely neurotic and will not leave us alone. When we shut the door to the basement in hopes of getting rid of him, he just parks at the door waiting until it is open again. Our favorite quote from What About Bob? is "You think he's gone, he's not gone, he's never gone!" You then open the door and there he is, wondering what the problem is.

Up until now, we have not seen or heard any mice since we got Bob. Marc thought that maybe there were only 2 and we got them already. (If this was true, he wanted to get rid of Bob). My theory was that Bob and spread his scent around and scared the mice off. Two days ago was Bob's big moment of truth. Marc was brushing his teethe when he saw a mouse. I ran to get Bob who promptly caught the mouse and then let it go. Marc was livid. He was ranting and raving about getting rid of Bob because he wasn't pulling his weight and what good is a cat if it won't catch mice. Marc was ready to turn Bob out in the street. I convinced, or rather told, Marc that we were not getting rid of him yet. Lo and behold, Bob caught a mouse today and lovingly presented it to Marc. Marc has been very kind to Bob today and has decided he can stay. Maybe Bob understood what Marc was going on about and realized that he likes our home. As long as he keeps our home mouse free, he's a keeper.

Welcome Home

My grandparents, Harlan and Mary Alice Clark came home from their mission today, well not exactly home, but they are back in Utah. We will remain at the cabin while they are here since they will be going back out on another mission soon (probably back to the same mission, Manhattan Temple, in October). In the mean time, they will be staying at my parent's house and vacationing. It is always good to see them and it is good for the girls to have some bonding time.

Chocolate Covered Raspberries

As we learned on the first bag, they have to be sitting out for awhile so the chocolate and the raspberry inside are soft. So when you bite into it, the raspberry explodes surrounding the chocolate in your mouth and making every bite amazing. It is perfect when the raspberry and juices inside would squirt when bitten. If, as we learned on the second bag, the raspberries are cold, there is no explosion, hence not as good. When we bought the second and third bag, we let them sit until they were the proper temperature. FYI, the first photo was taken from the web.

Postponed

If anyone is waiting for an update on Alice, her surgery was postponed until further notice. We are not in a time crunch to get it done and decided that now is not the best time to deal with it. We see her orthopod again next month and will discuss our options at that time. Thanks for the concern.

Inching and Clapping

I have been meaning to post these videos for awhile. Claire is my little yoga baby and you can see how great at Downward Dog she is. The girls also clap all the time and will clap on cue if you start saying "patty cake."

Happy Birthday to my Hubby

Marc isn't really one for a lot of excitement for his birthday, so I'll just say Happy Birthday and I love you. These are just a few pictures from the last little while. The last is of Marc enjoying his birthday pie. I modified a creation of my friend Molly's with one exception, I replaced the melted chocolate with Nutella. I was delicious!

Bear Lake

This week was spent at Bear Lake with Marc's family. They have stayed at some condos there before and enjoyed it, so we all went up together this year. The condos were older and didn't have AC, but they were right on the beach and within easy distance of Garden City. There was also a really nice walking/biking trail that started in front of our condos. Marc and I took an hour walk most mornings while the girls hung out with Rara and Papa.

Tuesday was our first full day there and we went to Minetonka Caves. It was interesting, but the girls were done before the tour was, so Marc and I took off and backtracked on our own. I don't think we missed much since you went in and out on the same route.

We rented a wave runner on Wednesday and that was pretty fun. The girls absolutely loved the sand. They dug right and and Claire enjoyed sampling it several times. Bear Lake is tricky because it doesn't get too hot and the wind kicks up in the afternoon. So going to the beach is a dance with time.

This weekend was the Raspberry Days Festival so Thursday we went to the craft fair where I bought a few cute things for the girls. There was also a parade that was pretty funny that night. After the parade we went to the Chocolate Bear where were discovered Chocolate covered raspberries. I will let Marc describe those in another post. Lets just say they are little morsels of heaven.

Friday night was spent at the Raspberry Days Rodeo. It was small and local, but really fun.

Claire is getting closer to crawling everyday, she is great at scooting and rolling wherever she want to go. Alice has decided that everything is hilarious and is constantly giggling. (I have no idea where she gets that from ;-). They both clap and wave all the time. They have been fighting over toys for awhile, but Alice has discovered hair pulling and biting. When Claire starts yelling it is often because Alice has ahold of her hair, and if she starts crying, Alice has usually bitten her. How do you stop a 10 month old from hair pulling and biting? I'm mostly baffled by the biting. They are so fun and smart.

Alice goes in for her last foot surgery on Monday, details to come later.