Sydney's Package

Sydney got her first package in the mail...actually addressed to her! We signed up for a book club, because they had a good deal on a bunch of books. I am always wanting to buy books for Sydney, maybe because it was stressed so much in my college classes, and partly because I, myself, love books- not to mention that Sydney loves them. So we ordered a bunch of books and they came with this free backpack. Needless to say, Sydney has enjoyed both the books and the backpack.

Sydney sitting in the box that the books came in...daddy would push her around in it and call it her car

On the go, with her backpack

Ready for school!

Reading...

Goodbye

A final goodbye to Yankee Stadium...

Yesterday was the last home game the Yankees played of the season, which meant it was the last game that would ever be played at Yankee Stadium. I know it is a weird thing to be sentimental about, but I really have been sad to see it end. The coolest thing about Yankee Stadium is all the history that is there. There are so many incredible Yankee greats who played there, it is amazing to think about it. The memories and achievements that have taken place there are endless. Baseball is a big thing in my family, and baseball is the Yankees. So naturally, we spent most of the day yesterday watching tributes to the Yankee Stadium and players, and then the game. It was very interesting to learn a little more about the history of the game. And the game was amazing. It just had this feel about it, like a world series, only bigger. After the game was over, and we had won, no one wanted it to end. Everyone stood there and listened to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" over and over again, just in awe of the night. I still can't believe that there will never be another game in Yankee Stadium. Luckily, I had the chance to go and see a couple games there a few years ago. There is just something about it that gives you chills. Hopefully the new stadium will have as much history and will mean as much to the fans, but I am sure that it will take a while. As for now, last night, was a night to remember.

Sydney's Latest

It seems like every time I turn around Sydney is into something new. It has been fun to watch her explore and learn new things, but I do get tired of cleaning up the same messes over and over again. One place I always find her is in her room reading books. She will crawl in there and pull all of the books out of the basket and just look at them for long amounts of time, turning pages and talking. Some of her favorite things lately are...

Reading

Crawling under things

Going to the park

Playing the piano

Going on walks at the high school track

Watching movies either on dad's i-pod or the t.v.

AND...Getting into the bathroom when the door is open

Lions, Tigers, and Bears!

Over the weekend Matt and I decided to take Sydney to the Hogle Zoo. We thought it would be fun to take her there because she is really into animals. Every time she sees a cat or dog around our apartments she points and goes "oooh, oooh." It is really funny. Anyway, so on Saturday we packed her up and headed for the zoo. We were pretty accurate on our prediction that she would enjoy it. She loved the animals and just the atmosphere. I think her favorite animals were the Meercats (prairie dogs) because there were so many of them, and they would just run all around. She got right up to the glass and loved watching them. It was a really fun day to spend with just the 3 of us! I really enjoyed walking around, and forgot how educational the zoo can be. It has changed a lot since the last time I went, so it was fun to see the new additions. I said to Matt that we need to go at least once every summer. We took a ton of pictures, so here are the best of them!

The famous white alligator... creepy

Sydney is sitting on an 'elephants trunk'... it squirts out water!

Classic zoo picture

The giraffes

Sydney looking at the turkeys

Sydney after the zoo with her souvieneirs... a book, a giraffe stuffed animal, and a t-shirt that says bouncy pouncy tigers on it!

One Year

Last year this beauty was ours...

...and now we have been down to one car for just over a year.

I don't think I'll ever forget the day when we walked outside and Matt's car was gone. Last August I was student teaching, very pregnant, and sick. I had been sick for a few weeks and the doctor wanted me to come in for an ultra sound to make sure everything was ok. Matt and I both had the morning off so I could go to the doctor. We went outside to where the Acura was parked, and it was gone, yes GONE! I about died! I had to be to the doctor's office in 10 minutes and our car was missing. Luckily I have a calm husband who told me to go to the doctor and he would call the police. I remember laying there during the ultrasound just crying. It had been a stressful month and I was now worried mainly about my baby, but the car pushed me over the top. The lady who did the ultrasound must have thought I was crazy. The police don't do much for stolen cars...write down a case number, say sorry, and that's about it. After a couple weeks someone found our car, but the damage was bad enough that it had to be totaled. Our insurance covered a rental car for a few weeks, and luckily I only had to student teach for a week and a half beyond that. We were grateful that my family had just moved back, and that Matt's grandparents & brother lived close, because they helped us a lot with rides.

Life with one car has not been easy, but we have made it work. Most days I take Matt to and from work, but a couple days a week he has the car all day. It has just become a part of our lifestyle, but there are days when schedules conflict and we wonder how we do it. It is amazing how much value a paid off car can have! Sometimes I think about the people who stole our car. I wonder if they had any idea what it would do to our life. Funny enough, I'm not really mad at them anymore, because we have made it through. Trials definitely do make you stronger. We have learned a lot from this experience, but there are definitely days when I really miss this car!

Commencement Speech

Yesterday I opened up the August Ensign to look for the visiting teaching message and found an article on Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Elder Christofferson spoke at my graduation commencement just over a year ago, so I decided to look up the speech he gave. His speech was entitled Greatness.

At such a milestone in our lives, Elder Christofferson encouraged us that greatness was achieved through our every day happenings and not on individual events. He quoted Howard W. Hunter saying, "True greatness is never a result of a chance occurrence or a one-time effort or achievemnt. . . It requires a multitude of correct decisions for the everyday choices between good and evil that Elder Boyd K. Packer spoke about when he said, 'Over the years these little choices will be bundled together and show clearly what we value.' Those choices will also show clearly what we are."

Today I was listening to the radio and Governor Jon Huntsman was talking about something, I am not sure what. But one thing he said stood out to me. To paraphrase it he said, there are not many things that people are remembered for after their deaths. We do not leave behind very many things. But one of the things that people can remember us by is how we treat our children. When he said children he meant the all the children, not just our own. What we do in our everyday life really does define us, and how we treat those around us really can make a difference in the world.

Perhaps my favorite part of Elder Christofferson's speech is when he quoted President Joseph F. Smith saying, "Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life. After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman. . . It is true that such secondary greatness may be added to that which we style common-place; but when such secondary greatness is not added to that which is fundamental, it is merely an empty honor, and fades away from the common and universal good in life, even though it may find a place in the desultory pages of history."

As I read this speech, I couldn't help but think about the past year of my life. I am grateful that Elder Christofferson spoke on this subject, because it really does define all of our lives. I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn more about this great man in the Ensign, and to reread his speech.

If you want to look up this speech, just go to speeches.byu.edu.

Road Trip

Last week we went on our first road trip with Sydney. We drove up to Oregon to visit Matt's family. Normally the drive to OR is about 12 1/2 hours and it took us 14, which isn't too bad because we had to stop so often to feed Sydney. Sydney actually surprised me with how good she was during the drive. Matt's younger brother Jeff rode up with us, so he sat in the back and entertained her which was nice.




Once we got to Oregon we enjoyed relaxing and just spending time together. I think that sometimes the best vacations are the ones where you don't have to do anything but relax. So it was nice to have a break from our every day worries. Sydney enjoyed spending time with her mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. She loved playing with all of the toys, and especially liked pulling herself up onto chairs. Because she kept crawling into the kitchen to pull herself up on a chair, we finally put one in the middle of the family room so she could play there.



We also went to a Scandinavian Festival, which is a Page family tradition. It was Sydney's and my first time going. It was fun to eat the yummy food, walk around the festival, and hear stories about Matt's family and the fun times they have had at the festival.





For the drive home we decided to break the drive up over 2 days, and we drove home a different way, through Reno. The drive through Reno is longer than the drive through Boise, but it was nice to stop and spend the night in a hotel and sight see along the way a little bit. We stopped at Crater Lake in Oregon. It was beautiful! It is one of those sights that just takes your breath away. Crater Lake is a natural lake that was created when a volcano erupted and collapsed into itself 7,700 years ago. It is 5 miles wide and ringed by cliffs almost 2,000 feet high. After the collapse of the volcano the lake formed by filling with rain and melted snow. At 1,943 feet deep, it is the deepest lake in the United States and is one of the deepest in the world. It's known for it's intense blue water. The pictures do not do it justice.





We stayed in Reno for the night, which was Sydney's first hotel. She slept better than I imagined in the hotel crib. We stayed in a Casino, ate at the buffet for dinner, and had fun watching t.v. (the Olympics) in bed! Sydney loved looking at all of the lights and things in the casino. It was fun to include this short stop as part of our trip, and do something that was just with our little family of 3.

Matt & Sydney in front of a fountain

Sydney playing in the hotel crib

The drive from Reno to Salt Lake was actually the shortest amount of time, but it felt like some of the longest part of the overall drive. Much of the drive is just desert. Every time we would drive through a little town I couldn't help but think about the people and farmers that live there. I couldn't imagine living in such a secluded place. I drove most of the drive this time, but Matt drove the whole drive from Salt Lake to Oregon, and from Oregon to Reno. I actually kind of liked driving because it was not quite as boring.





We made a special stop on the way home in Elko Nevada! I used to live in Elko when I was little, so we found our old house and ate lunch in Elko. The city has grown a lot since we lived there, and from what little I can remember, is very different. It was so fun to be able to see our house. When we got home we showed the picture to my brothers and sister and it was fun for them to see where we used to live.

Sydney & me in front of our old house!

The drive from Elko to home is about 3 1/2 hours. As I drove it I was shocked that my mom used to drive that far by herself with her kids, just to go to the doctor. When we lived in Elko my mom was pregnant with Tim, and had to come all the way to Salt Lake to go to the doctor. Matt sat in the back with Sydney for a lot of the drive and played with her, because she was having a much harder time at this point. Here are a few pictures of the last part of our drive...


Sydney LOVES playing peek-a-boo! She kept playing with Matt while he was sitting in the back seat with her. It was so fun to listen to her laugh and laugh (instead of cry). Sydney's laugh is my favorite sound in the world!


Cruising along...

Two things that made the drive so long... construction & being stuck behind big trucks!

Even though most of the drive was desert, there were still a lot of beautiful sights. When we got to the Salt Flats we knew we were almost home!!!

No matter how enjoyable a vacation is, it is always nice to be home! Sydney was so excited to get back to her normal surroundings and out of the car seat. She crawled around the house laughing and talking as happy as can be!