the road that we're on

It's our final week in "the Burg!"  I'm so ready.  We've loved it here, but it's certainly time to move on.  So how have we spent our final week?

Girl's lunch.  I'm gonna miss these amazing women!

Play date.  Go here to see a picture of e and Wes holding hands.  It's in the first picture and I promise it wasn't staged.  Wes just reached over, grabbed her hand, and started swinging it back and forth.  Here they are acting like nothing happened.  We know better.

Packing, packing, cleaning, and more packing.

Looking at houses online.  Hoping that our favorites will still be there in a week.  And hoping we can afford it!

Going to the Temple.  We won't have one this close in the near future.

Rexburg, we will miss you, but not that much.  :)

We will miss our dear friends.  It's hard to imagine that we'll find such amazing people in CC, but we will try.

Goodbye, Rexburg.  We'll cherish the memories we've made here.  You've been good to us.

to you

Happy two month birthday, little e!

We are having so much fun with you.  You love to scoot yourself across your changing pad.  It's your favorite place to be.  Just this past week you've been taking a two hour nap every morning.  It helps me feel better, but I have to admit, after about 30 minutes of your peaceful slumber, I start to miss you.

You're getting rather attached to us, too.  If we leave you for more than five minutes, you let us know that you feel neglected.  You coo until we come say hi, then you reward us with that enchanting smile of yours.  We'd do anything for one of your smiles.

You love your pacifier and between it and me, I'm guessing you get record-breaking suck time.  I love watching you eat.  Your chin is so sweet and you usually pose with a dainty pinkie in the air as if you're having tea with the queen of England.

You love your bath, sitting so well in your big girl tub.  You hate being cold and wet afterward.  We can't get you dressed fast enough.

When people see you they comment on how beautiful you are, how you look like your father, and how long and cute your hair is.  Not only do you look like your Dad, you take after him in other ways, too.  Tall and skinny, you are 22.5 inches long (58th percentile) and a whopping 8 lbs 12 oz (7th percentile).  But you do have your mom's nose.  And her tiny feet.

We love our dainty little angel.  We are so glad you came to our family.  You keep us laughing, dancing, and loving every moment!  We love you, e.

Love,

Mom and Dad

the moon above you and the streets below

Currently

listening to
      -kiss me slowly by parachute  (i can hear jeffree singing it in the shower this very moment)

enjoying
     -the smell of lilacs and freshly mowed grass

     -little e's smiles

     -afternoon walks with Jeffree and little e

avoiding
     -writing my talk for Sunday

     -packing our house

anticipating
     -moving to Cedar City

     -little e's baby blessing

nervous about
     -moving to CC

     -buying a house

Enjoy a magnificent Friday, friends!

you're the ultimate you

I never did blog about the summer games.  I'll blame it on Jeff since he uploaded the pics I took to his computer, then deleted them.  The following pictures are from facebook. 

A week and a half ago we drove to CC for the Utah Summer Games.  It was quite the adventure... diaper blowouts to rival all blowouts, feeding a hungry baby on the shoulder of the freeway, and plenty of wind to make for an interesting tournament.  All in all, however, it was a fun trip.  Little e enjoyed meeting a bunch of the family.

We love watching Jeffree participate in Ultimate.  He loves it more than anything (except for e and me), and he's super good at it.  Here he is with one of his best friends sporting their silver medals.

His besties were excited that he got to play with them.  It'll be nice when we move to CC (next week!!!) so he can play more often.

We're currently enjoying gorgeous summer weather.  There really isn't anything better than Rexburg in the summer. *sigh* 


Happy Thursday!

and give him what

For Father's Day, I gave Jeffree a blog.

About a month ago, I decided to create a blog where I tell Jeffree why I fell in love with him that day.  Whether doing the dishes, feeding e in the middle of the night, or just being Jeffree, it's important that I let him know I recognize and appreciate the sweet things he does for me.  At first I didn't know when to give it to him, but with so much going on right now, I knew I wouldn't be able to come up with anything else for Father's day.

I think he liked it  :)

Here's one of the posts.  Enjoy!

Thanks for making me feel like a million kajillion bucks.  You do that, you know.  No matter what I do for you, you always come back with something so charming I can never hope to repay you.  I know it's not a competition, but if if was, you would definitely win.

Yesterday you were perfection itself.  It was your day, but you made it our day.  A perfect day.  You gushed over me and our little e and I wouldn't be a real woman if I hadn't fallen in love with you.  You are that good.  I'm going to have to work hard to keep you a secret.  I love you so much.

Forever yours and forever in love,

loRi

because you love me like i am

There are several reasons I think my Dad is amazing.

*He's smart.  He was my math teacher three different years since 7th and he's taught me so much - not just about math but about everything.

*He's spiritual.  He knows so much about the gospel.  He lives it too.

*He's always there to serve others.  He always brought us to all the service projects.  Whether it was cleaning up along the highway or thinning peaches at the welfare farm, we were there alongside my Dad, following his example.

*He's so handsome.  I remember one of my best friend's mom telling me what a handsome, well-kept father I had.  I was only in 7th grade, so I probably thought it was weird, but I've since gained an appreciation for what a handsome Dad I have.  Look at that smile.

*He's so athletic.  He can play any sport and can coach any sport.  Even now he's still hitting homeruns in city league softball.  One time we played against a team that had made a sign that said "Stan is just a man... or is he?"  That just about sums it up.

*My Dad is the sweetest.  He always told his girls how much he loved us and how beautiful, sweet, spiritual, and smart we were.  I think because my Dad loved me so much, I never felt the need to have a steady boyfriend in high school.  I didn't need some teenage boy to tell me I was amazing, because my Dad made sure I already knew.

*My Dad loves my Mom so much.  That was never a question.  He made sure my Mom knew and he made sure we knew.

*He's the perfect gentleman.  Not only does he always open the door for my mom, he opens the door for every woman, whether his daughters or his students.  If there is a girl around, he will get the door for her.

*He gives the best hugs.  There are some problems that only a Dad hug will solve.  His hugs are just that good.

*The attribute I love the most about my Dad is that he sees the best in everyone.  He loves everybody and can see their potential.  I've never heard him talk bad about anyone.  Everyone is so great around him because he treats them like they are great.  He gives everyone permission to be their very best, because he believes they already are the very best.

*He's a great Grandpa and little e's favorite way to be held now is how Grandpa held her while he was here.

I love you, Dad.  Thanks for helping me become who I am today and for believing that I am so much more.

Love,

loRi

hug him tight like this

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful, loving father.  We love you and we think fatherhood suits you fabulously.

with love,
loRi and little e

is it cool if i hold your hand

little e had her first real play date.

Meet Oliver.  He's only 3 days older than her, but significantly bigger.  We're guessing he'll be about 6'5"

Not to mention the hair.

Megan and I were the chaperones, as our little tykes are under age.

We love our sweet little girl!

i said i wasn't gonna lose my head

So I've noticed the recently popular "What I wore Wednesday" blog posts.  Trust me, though, you don't want to know what I wore Wednesday.  And you certainly don't want to see a photo of me actually wearing it.  Plus, if I did follow this interesting trend, you might start thinking, "Isn't that what she wore last Wednesday?"  (a quick view of older posts would confirm your suspicions.)  But what you wouldn't know is that it's also what I wore last Tuesday and quite possibly last Monday.  You might suspect that it's the only outfit I own (wrong) or the only outfit I can fit into (barely wrong) or you might think it can't even be classified as an outfit (that is where you are correct).

The moral of the story is the loRi version of "What I wore Wednesday" would either
a)  totally bore you
b)  totally gross you out
c)  inspire you to recommend me for an appearance on "What not to wear"
d)  all of the above

So here is what I wore Thursday... (chortle)

your little hands wrapped around my finger

Little e is definitely her daddy's little girl.  Jeffree gets more smiles in five minutes than I do all day.  It's so cute to watch them together.

He has her heart.

stayed up just laughing

Last night e was so funny.  We would have taken a video, but circumstances were not ideal for that... So we just laughed and laughed and imitated her all night.


I wish I could say she was just as pleasant today.... It's a good thing she has such an adorable face.

I dare you to not fall in love with that sweet face.  We love our little e.

when i'm burning bright

I just found this, we'll call it a thank you note from a student I had a few years ago. Turns out high school students have a different style than 3rd graders...

I'm out. It's been good. Peace out Lorster.

Jeffree finished out the regular school year last friday and we've been enjoying a few days together before he starts his summer job. Here are some highlights from the year:

Jeffree won a national competition with a video he made with his students. They loved it, and now they all want to audition for the community play. Check it out. So adorable.

He had more students request him for this next year than the other 3rd grade teachers. He's just that cool.

He loved the thank you book he received that I mentioned here.

You can tell his students learned a lot by their final journal entry responses to the question, "What kind of doctor would you be and what would you do?" Here are his favorite 3:

-I would be a brain doctor. I would help people get smarter. In other words, I would be a teacher...
-I would be a vetranarian because I would get to stick my hand up cow's butts.
-I would be an eye doctor so I could give people shots in the eye.

Jeffree has loved teaching here in Rexburg and his coworkers are amazing (Brenda, Marianne - come with us please)! We're sad to say goodbye to them, but excited for the opportunities to come.