Mami Vicki and Opi give Elisabeth life advice

I think we will cherish these videos for many years.

Thank you Mami Vicki and Opi.  I love you!

Lizzie dances May 22, 2012

I am so excited that I caught this on camera.  Check out her bouncing action.  She'd just come in from frolicking at the Gateway Mall fountains.

Lizzie is 14 months!

I still can't figure out if she's a Lizzie or an Elisabeth.  Paul likes Elisa (Spanish pronounciation).  I kind of like Lisette but honestly she's always looked like a Beth to me.  Cute little Bethy.  She has a cousin named Bethany so Paul thinks that might be "against the rules."  Not sure.  Anyway, she is a sweet little munchkin and she has really grown by leaps and bounds this year.  Here's what she's up to:

• She is talking!  In Spanish!  A little!
• She says Dada, Mama, and her favorite word.... Zapatos!!  She loves to put on her zapatos because that means she is going to go outside which is her favorite thing to do so that she can look at her favorite thing which is Pajaros (birds), which she can kinda say but which sounds an awful lot like zapatos.  Jaja!
• She understands a lot of what I tell her in Spanish like if I say "vamos a comer" she runs to her high chair or if I say "vamos a tomar una siesta" she gets all sleepy and sucks her thumb.  Soo cute
• She only sucks her thumb if she is sleepy or insecure about a situation.  
• She is the best little dancer I've ever seen and bounces around to music.  The other kids don't pay attention but there she is bouncing around.
• She loves to go to the pool and we go quite a bit these days.
• She loves anything water-related.
• She likes toys a little but she loves to play with us more.  Her favorite game is "surprise!!"  That means that she "sneaks" up on us and surprises up and then she giggles with peals of laughter.
• Oh also when she is tired of doing something or of eating she moves her hands and says "ya."
• She "talks" in the cutest ways.  All her words are like questions and like music to my ears.  I love to hear her babble and talk.  Love it!
• She's not a big cuddler but is always scooting around.
• She does like to sit on my lap and read though.  That makes me very happy.
• She loves broccoli and most foods actually.
• She loves morning time with mom and dad in bed.

Well, pictures are worth a thousand words but if you are reading this one day Lizzie please know how very much I love and adore you.  Not only do I adore you but I hold a lot of respect for you.  When I look into your beautiful, big, green eyes, I behold a person and an individual who was recently with our Savior in the pre-existence.  It's an honor to be around you and I feel honored that I was given stewardship over you for a little while.  I love you Lizzie.  I always will.

Check out Lizzie's belly silhouette!

I love to put her in piggy tails

She LOVED getting wet at the Gateway fountain 

First merry-go round

I love this picture!

With dada at the new Natural History Museum

Our day away in Vernal

It was one of those things we had always wanted to do, a spontaneous trip.  We ended up going to Vernal for a little over 24 hours.  It was our first mini-moon since last October and it was splendid and much needed.  I just love spending time with Paul and I feel like it makes us come home more energized to spend time with sweet Lizzie.  We got to Vernal in the afternoon (May 18), checked into our hotel and then went to the Vernal Temple to do initiatories.  After that, we had a lovely dinner at Cafe Rio, then sat in the hot tub for a while and then went to the Drive In movie theatre.  That was such a delight!  We snuggled in the back of Paul's truck and watched The Hunger Games (not a big fan of the movie but I loved just being together in that way).

The next morning, we slept in late and then ate a yummy hotel breakfast.  After breakfast, we packed up and headed over to Dinosaur National Monument.  We saw a bunch of cool dinosaur bones and hiked around and then went for a 15-mile bike ride.  It was a wonderful ride and really made us sweat it out, which I loved!  Paul pushed me up some of the long hills on his bike.  Haha.  After the ride, we slowly meandered back home and ended the night with Sushi with Jared.  We had a blast and it was the perfect amount of time away.  We both wanted to grab Lizzie out of bed that night and snuggle her but we got to soon enough the next morning.  What a pleasure that was to unite with her again.  We love her and each other so much!

Lazy blogger

I've been a lazy blogger lately but it's okay cause that usually means you are living your life rather than merely talking about living it.  I've got some great projects in the works and I'm all afire for them.  I feel incredibly motivated these days and also am constantly trying to shift my paradigms to be more other-focused.  That's a big thing for me these days.  I feel like I often focus too much on me and look back and realize later what a chump I was for having said or done a certain thing.  I am working on changing this.  I also feel like my testimony of the gospel has been growing a lot these days.  I feel more charitable towards people.  In short, life is good.  Well, that's all for now folks!

Mami Vicki & Opi come to town

When Paul was out of town (in Paris, for his MBA trip, lucky) my parents came to visit for a week.  We had a great time and Lizzie really it off well with my mother.  It made me happy.