A trip to the mall with Hailey

This is a typical look for Hailey--tiara on head, mirror in hand.


So today I didn't want to sit around all afternoon playing with Hailey and Sophie on the floor like I usually do (when I'm not cooking or cleaning or apartment-hunting in San Diego) and Cory was at school, so I did something I haven't done in months. I took the girls to the mall. The weather has been in the 20's lately, so an outside walk was out of the question. I seriously haven't taken Hailey to the mall more than once since she turned two, so I have not trained her to be this way.

Anyway, we walk into Macy's (Hailey calls it the"pretty store"), and she literally starts gawking at all the manequins. She has to stop and stare and smile in wonder and touch their pretty, shiny boots. She told me they were wearing such pretty shoes as she stroked them. Then we proceed to walk through Macy's when she points and giggles with delight and glee at all the evening gown dresses and fancy coats sections. Her eyes are lit up like stars. She has walked into Paradise. (If any of you have seen "Confessions of Shopaholic" just picture her face when she would walk into stores.) Perhaps the funniest comment came when she pointed up at a manequin wearing skinny jeans, shiny boots, a fitted pea coat, with lots of accesories and says, "mommy, she looks like you." I busted out laughing right then and there. I mean, yes, she's a two-year-old, and I guess it did make my day, but trust me, it couldn't be farther from the truth.

Then on our way out of the mall, she saw the little girls dresses section. Oh dear. We stayed there for THIRTY minutes because she had to make sure she had seen (and touched--I made sure her hands were clean) EVERY single dress in store. I have to admit, they were beautiful dresses--I believe the cheapest dress was $30--and that was 50% off, but she wanted to "try them on", which just meant to hold them up to her to see how long they were. She kept pointing to dress after dress saying she wanted them for her birthday (coming up this month). When I told her it was time to go, she almost started crying because she wanted to keep looking at dresses and making their skirts swoosh back and forth. I told her we would have to come back someday. (Yeah, like in 5 years!!)

Okay, so don't get me wrong, I was a little proud of my daughter to be such a girlie girl, but STILL. I got a little nervous. I mean, she's not even 3 and she's already this aware of fashion? I know I like to shop and I love buying clothes, but since Sophie's been born, I have gone shopping for myself maybe, two times--neither of which time I had Hailey with me--so I know she can't just be copying how I am! It's truly just in her genes! I'm a little worried for when she's a teenager!

Halloween Pictures

This is just a random picture of Sophie in October.



The kids with their loot.





Hailey was Snow White, Sophie was a luau girl, Cory was a ninja.



This is Cory's last soccer game in October. He aboslutely loved it this season and got way more into it. He was the biggest kid on his team and one of the taller ones on any team they played, so he ended up scoring at least 2 goals each game. There were a couple of games that he scored more than 7! That's when we had to start reinforcing the idea of passing the ball to his team mates!




Looking for pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch.

San Diego--Here we come!

Okay, so we should give a little update since our lives have been turned upside down.
(I will post Halloween pictures later). About 4 months ago, Trent and I decided maybe we should look into going back to school and getting more education that would help Trent get a clinical research job. He's been applying to jobs in this field for the last 18 months and found nothing. We have been very blessed that he has been working at ARUP Laboratories. It's just not what he wants to do for the rest of his life. So, we started researching programs all over the country. I spent several hours over a couple of days researching schools while he was at work. I found a Masters Program at the University of California San Diego that Trent really liked. It was specific--JUST for clinical research. It has job placement help at the end and the classes are very hands-on-training-type experience for a real job. This program is much more specific than the Masters Degree he earned from the Univ. of Utah. Although, we are very glad he did that program (Masters of Science and Technology) because without it, he could not have applied to this program. Just to apply to this program, you had to have one advanced degree or another. A bachelors wasn't gonna cut it. So we started the whole transcript-sending, personal-statement-writing, letters of recommendation process all over again. FUN. Haven't we done this before?

So we finally heard last Tuesday that he got accepted! It is on a condition, though. They were concerned about his lack of experience doing clinical research. Duh! Isn't that why we need to go back to school?!?! He has to take the first class in the program (Epidemiology 1--starting Jan. 4), receive a B or better, than he can be officially accepted into the program. He's not too worried about that condition--it will be the only class he's taking, so he can really focus on it.

So after that, he can sign up for the full 6 credits starting summer quarter. The program has a track that can allow people to finish it in 18 months and that is what we are shooting for. I mean, seriously, how much student loan debt do we REALLY want to be in when all is said and done. I thought we were doing pretty good after he graduated from the Univ of Utah. But now we are going to double that amount. Fun!!

So now we have less than 2 months to: (in order of importance)
Trent needs to find a job in San Diego. ANY job!!!
We need to find an apartment or a house to rent (leaning towards renting a house--more inland, so we don't have to pay $2000 a month!) We will probably leave our kids with my parents over Thanksgiving break down in Arizona since we were planning on going there anyway and fly on over. And celebrate Cory's birthday somewhere in there since his birthday is just before Thanksgiving.
We need to actually MOVE there.
We need to find Cory's new school and switch schools
We have Christmas to plan and shop for--do we move right before Christmas? Do we move the day after Christmas? Who knows.
Work out money details--apply for federal aid, etc, etc.
We have Hailey's birthday on New Years Eve
Then hopefully, on Jan. 4 we will be all moved in somewhere, Trent will attend his first day of class, and then go to work.

All I can say is, thank heavens this isn't LAST year when I was 8 months pregnant with Sophie during the holidays! That would definitely make it much harder.

Okay, well, we're excited, and I'm so glad we took that trip to San Diego just 6 months ago! We went to Sea World for a couple of days and the beach. So I feel like we have a feel for the area. We loved it! 70 degrees year-round? Yeah, I think I can handle that. Too bad I just bought all the kids snow boots for the winter. And a cool sled at a recent garage sale. Oh well. I guess we'll just suffer by living in a perfect climate. But don't be too jealous. When I start to think about the student loans we'll have when all this is over, I start to feel faint and weak.

Just finished Jane Eyre

Okay, so I don't know HOW Jane Eyre has slipped by me all these years of me loving reading my whole life and reading well over 50 books since I got married. I never had to read it in school, and I never had anyone push me to say "you have to read this book!"

Well, now I'm going to say it: You have to read this book! It wasn't just the book I loved. After I finished reading it (the key is"after"), go to your library, and check out Masterpiece Theater's recent making of it. It was only made a couple years ago (it aired on PBS in Jan. 2008) and it's almost 4 hours long. (The cover has a close-up of her profile on it.) That's how you know you'll get the right movie. It has to be the right one! They've made different versions dating back to the 1940's (I think), and this is BY FAR the best version.

It made me remember all the good and noble attributes we should have like patience, temperance, forgiveness, modesty (not the clothing kind), and love. There are some beautiful illustrations to each of these virtues given in the book. It will make you remember what TRUE love is supposed to be like between spouses. It will make you wonder how quickly you could forget how madly in love you were during your engagement and first year or so of marriage and then when children came, that kind of love got set aside for arguments about who's turn it was to take out the garbage or bathe the kids. This book will remind you that there are such deeper kinds of love than just physical attraction (although that is the icing on the cake that makes it so much sweeter). It will remind you that when your minds and hearts are one with each other, there is no greater satisfaction and joy in a relationship.

When I turned off the end of the movie last night around midnight, the channel came up that I last had it on (NBC, I think), and they were advertising for some comedy (I can't remember which one), and the crassness and the baseness that I saw in just a 10 second commercial for some raunchy comedy that's on network television almost made me cry. Just compared to the purity and the goodness of character that a book (or movie) like Jane Eyre can conjure up in our heads, and then you see something like that on TV--it was almost as if someone splashed ice water on my face.

I love the modern conveniences of today's life--I am grateful to be alive at this time where we have the fullness of the gospel restored, and we have modern medicine and heating and air conditioning!! We can travel and experience more in a few days than most people 200 years ago couldn't experience in a whole lifetime. But it doesn't come without a price. Sometimes I think life was more fulfilling for some people back in those days than it is now. They had to work so hard (mostly physically hard) for every single thing they got out of life. People were hardly "bored." Is that why the moral standards were so much higher? People weren't so rude and inconsiderate as they are now. (Of course people in previous time periods were still rude and had bad qualities--I'm talking about society in general.)

Anyway, Hailey is needing me (she wants me to paint her fingernails), so that's my soapbox for today. So here's the lesson of the day:

Go start reading "Jane Eyre", take one attribute you want to have more dominant in your life, and we can all feel more satisfied and fulfilled with life!

Our Family Pictures -- August 2009

Gotta love those family photo sessions! The kids actually all did so well. Cory is 5 1/2, Hailey is 2 1/2, Sophie was 6 months old.



Hailey LOVES to have her picture taken. She wanted to keep taking more, but sadly, we were all done, and it was time to go. Cory was the COMPLETE opposite at this age!!

Hailey really wanted to take a picture "hugging" the soccer ball (that's what she said Cory was doing when they took his picture with it). So she had to have a turn, too.

FIrst Day of School and Some Face Painting

Last week Trent and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on September 3. We went to this awesome BBQ place in Layton (we are lovers of fine smokehouse's) called Holy Smoke BBQ. Then we went to see a musical comedy at the Rogers Memorial Theater called "Lucky Stiff". The singing was great and we lauged a lot--just what we wanted. On our way home from the date (and while stopping at Coldstone) we were reminiscing and trying to remember all the musicals we have seen in our 7 years together. We counted 21 in all.

One we actually saw on Broadway in NYC (42nd Street--it was awesome), and we drove to Denver to see the Broadway National Touring Company do "Wicked". Then in Salt Lake we've seen the National Touring Companies do " The Producers", "Annie" (actually that was in Phoenix), "Riverdance" (so cool!), and "Miss Saigon" (loved it). The rest that we've seen have been community theater--but in Utah, that's pretty much near professional. Our favorites (a lot done by Hale Centre and Center Street Musical Theater) have been "Pirates of Penzance", "The Secret Garden", "Jekyll and Hyde", "Les Mis: School Edition", "The Scarlett Pimpernell", "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "Into the Woods" (twice), "The Mikado", "Oklahoma", and "Pride and Prejudice." (Okay, Curtis and Jenni, how many of those shows were YOU in?!) The ones that were kind of forgettable were "Guys and Dolls" (we saw it too close to seeing 42nd Street on Broadway), "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change", and "The Garden." So if you count "Lucky Stiff", that's twenty-one shows in all. Phew!! It's a good thing I married someone who likes musical theater!!


This is Cory on Aug.31, 2009. His first day of kindergarten. Clearfield, UT



Cory getting on the bus! He was so big and not scared or hesitant at all--he just hopped right on, waved good-bye to me, and that was it. In fact, I met him at the bus-stop after school was over to walk him home. He told me I didn't need to ever do that again, because he knows where our house is (we are quite close to the bus stop) and he does not need me to come get him. That was the only time all week (with him starting school and all), that I got a little sad!



Cory with Trent on the first day of school.



Cory with Hailey and Karen on his first day of school.




Hailey and Sophie just being really cute one Sunday afternoon in August.

I told Hailey to smile, but not to squint her eyes shut--this is what I got.

Our cute Sophie--6 1/2 months old.

In August, we took the kids to the free Hill Air Force Base Museum. They have a new section that lets the kids dress up like real pilots and sit in the cockpits of some jets. They loved it!

Cory in serious pilot-mode.

Nice helmets, guys!

Cory really wanted to learn how to pound nails in wood, so we got some scrap wood from Trent's dad, and Trent helped Cory build a contraption out of some wood pieces. I think Cory calls it his parking garage for all his Hot Wheels. It even has a ramp! This is what we do on Trent's 7 days off.

This is what happened when I left the face paint out after painting the kids faces. I went to take care of Sophie, and Hailey was so proud at her face-painting job. She was even holding up a hand-mirror (so she said), so that she could make her face "pretty."

This is how Hailey likes to admire herself in the mirror. She's our little fairy. (If you've ever read the Fablehaven series, you'll know what I mean by that comment.)

This is what I actually painted on her face--before she destroyed it.

Some little girl gave her this flower outside one day, and she was quite determined to have it in her hair behind her ear. We're not sure how she knew you could put flowers there, but that sure is where she wanted it!

This is the tiger face I painted on Cory last week. I told him to make a scary tiger face, and that is the expression I got.

Fun at Lagoon and East Canyon

This is Sophie (6 months old) sitting on one of the benches at Lagoon while Cory and Hailey were riding rides. She did so great all day.




Hailey and Cory on some rides.



Oh, the sugar! They each chose their cotton candy flavor.

Hailey sitting cross-legged on the couch combing her Barbie's hair. (Such a big girl!)

Trent with Sophie at the East Canyon swimming pool.

Cory at East Canyon.

Cory fishing at East Canyon.

Sophie wants to crawl already! She pushes up on her knees and scoots her body along the floor.

Sophie's first (or second) encounter with REAL food! She sure loves it.

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We went there for the Open House the first part of July.

Me with the 3 kids for the Open House. (Trent had to work.)

My neices, Kayla and Lindsey, helped me out SOOO much during our reunion in Idaho. Lindsey held Sophie for me all the time, so I could take care of the other two.

Summer Fun 2009

So, we have been very busy this summer. At the beginning of July we went to my extended Goodman family's reunion up in Rexburg, ID. After a couple of days there, just my family headed on over to Yellowstone for a day, and then camped in a beautiful campground in Grand Tetons National Park. Then a couple weekends later, we spent a couple nights at Trent's family's condo up in East Canyon and spend the days fishing, swimming, hiking, playing miniature golf, shuffleboard (Cory loves it!), and more swimming.

We have spent several days each week this summer at our pool here in the complex where we live. Cory can swim from the short end of the pool to the other with no floaties now! Several weeks ago we took the family to a drive-in movie and set up a nice bed for the kids in the back of our Mazda Tribute. We saw "Transformers" and the new Star Trek movie. And then yesterday, we took the family to Lagoon Amusement Park here in Davis County for a fun, but very exhausting day. Sophie did great--Hailey and Cory had a blast and rode many of the "kiddie rides" SEVERAL times. Tuesday was a great day to go to Lagoon--the longest lines were only 10-15 minutes and the kiddie ride lines were practicially no wait at all. I'll post pictures of Lagoon later, but here's some from our earlier vacation.

This is Hailey and Cory at the 4th of July Parade in Rexburg, ID.




Grandpa, Hailey, Karen with Sophie, and Cory watching the Parade.



Grandpa helping me out with a sleeping Sophie, since Trent still had to work. He joined us a couple days into our trip and met us in Rexburg.




Hailey, Jacob Shaw, and Kylie Walker at the Bone's house in Rexburg, ID.




All the cousins laughing their heads off during one of the skits we acted out of our ancestors' stories.

A bison in the middle of the road in Yellowstone National Park. July 6, 2009.

One of the hot springs in Yellowstone Park.

Trent with the kids in Yellowstone. (Yeah!! He finally joined us!)

Cory, Hailey, and Karen with Sophie at Yellowstone.

Hailey plugging her nose while walking all around one of the biggest hot springs at Yellowstone in the Lower Basin. (We did not tell her to plug her nose--she just told us it stunk!)

Old Faithful erupting. We waited over an hour for our front row seat.

A much-needed ice cream break in the huge lodge right behind Old Faithful. In this picture, you can see Sophie reaching for my cone.

I took this picture from our car driving to our campsite in Grand Teton National Park. Gorgeous!

The view on our hike around part of Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park.

Just a portion of us that went on the Jenny Lake hike. You can see me in the bottom left corner under the tree nursing Sophie.

Trent had Hailey in the backpack. I carried Sophie in the front baby carrier. We could only go a little over 2 miles on this hike because...well, we were carrying children. Not like the 18 mile hike we did 2 summers ago up Timpanogos Mountain in Utah County.

Hailey camping and eating s'mores.

This was Hailey's costume (Fairy-in-training) for our family reunion's movies that we made. She absolutely LOVED it and didn't want to take it off when we were done filming.