What are you watching?

Have you been watching good t.v? Last week ABC called it National Stay at Home week because of all the season primeres. Thankfully becuase of TiVo, we don't have to stay at home to catch all our favorites, but Monday nights that is where you will find this family. We call it "good t.v. night". We are following Chuck, How I met your Mother, CSI: Miami, the Office and Grey's anatomy. Chuck starts tonight, and it might be our favorite...hilarious. What are you watching?

Our International Traveler!!!

So Kaylie is only 5 months olds, and already traveling internationally. Okay, not really, but we did have a fun road trip this past Saturday. This past weekend, our friends Amy, Preston, and cute Autumn came down from Salt Lake to visit. On Saturday we took a road trip to Nogales Mexico and crossed the border!!! We stayed just long enough to bargain with some of the locals (see the pinata purchased by Preston below), take a few pictures, and that was it.

Kaylie and Autumn are only 3 weeks apart and Kaylie loved having a playmate around the house for the weekend. Whenever she got close enough she tried poking or grabbing her cute friend. Thanks for paying us a visit Jensens...we had fun!

Mesa Temple

We found the mesa temple today. It is actually only like 15 minutes away. It just kind of appears. We are driving through downtown and then there it is. It is pretty in its own sort of way....not palacial like most temples I have seen. It is more like a washington monument meets mexican ruin. Looking at the picture above it kind of reminds me of what a temple might have looked like in ancient times. It was fun to walk around the grounds, obviously with Kaylie we couldn't go inside. It is wonderful though how even just being on the outside of the temple you can feel the spirit.

Top Spot

So we live in Arizona now. Sometimes I forget this, I guess I am still getting used to the change. When I do remember it, I think that it is okay that we do. For those of you that I talk to regularly you may remeber a time when I wasn't okay with the fact that we were going to...live here I mean. There are things that I like about here and there are things that I miss about Utah, but here is home so that is that.

I have been in the process of unpacking our things and everything that goes into movin in. I was unpacking a box that was our office stuff; jeff had packed up the boxes of office stuff and I came across a paper that was from several years ago, on the bottom it said 2005. It was a quiz we took on the internet, from a website www.findyourspot.com. I can kind of remeber doing this and we must of been in our St.George apartment. Anyways the website ask you all sorts of questions about what you like and need in a plave to live and then gives you your top 25 places. Many of you have probally done this and if you haven't it is kinda fun so you should.

Funny stuff... reading our list, mind you it is 3 years old, it says that fountain hills, AZ is our number one place. Fountain hills is about 12 miles north of where we are now. That being the case, we decided we had to visit it this weekend. It is famous for having the largest fountain in the world. It is a very small town (think Heber 15 years ago) and kind of isolated from the rest of the towns by the mountains. It is quaint and pricey and I don't know how it made it to our number one top spot, but it was fun to check it out.

Lucky for us we already live in our number 2 spot...scottsdale, AZ. If only I had known it was our number two spot before we moved...maybe I would dragged my feet a little less.

Happy 29!

Happy birthday Jeff! We hope you are having a great day and want you to know what a great husband and dad you are. We love you soooo much. Thank you for all you do to take care of us. Sorry you have to go to work on your birthday...come home soon so we can celebrate!

Love,

Amy and Kaylie

Kaylie tried a few new things this weekend...the first was swimming. She loved the pool and we only got out after almost an hour because it was getting late ( It is still 100' at night so we went just before sunset). She learned to splash and we just pulled her around in the water. She was really happy and calm the whole time. It looks like we are going to have a fish for a daughter.

The second new thing was real food...and when I say real I mean rice cereal. Really how appietizing could this be? The first experience you can see on her face in the first pict. She was concerned to say the least about what was happening. The second time around we got a much better response, though I can't say much more of it actually eaten. We thought for sure Kaylie would be much more of an eating champ... She has been to this point as far as milk or formula was concerned. She was sitting with us at the dinner table a week ago and when we stopped looking at her for a second, she had a fistful of soft taco and the wrapper and was with true excitement trying to figure out what how she could get it into her mouth. Although that is what she trys to do with everything she gets her hands on ... we thought this for sure was a true sign that she was ready and willing to eat people food. Maybe that is just it...is watered down rice cereal really food. Perhaps we have a gourmet on our hands. Or maybe she just want a little more of what she got a taste of last week...quiero taco bell little kaylie?

Goodbye Utah

ON TO SCOTTSDALE WE GO!!!!

So, I realize we have been in Arizona for over a week now but I wanted to get up to date on the whole blog thing. The past few weeks have been an absolute blur to say the least. We were able to wrap things up in Lehi and make the trip down to Scottsdale just over a week ago. The trip down seemed to take FOREVER!!! First off, we left Lehi around 11PM and we made it to Kanab before we called it a night. We checked in to a Holiday Inn Express around 3AM and slept for a few hours. The next morning was slow going as we had to make several stops along the way to take care of Kaylie. The trip was hard since both Amy and I were in separate cars. We finally arrived in Scottsdale around 5pm! We arrived on a Friday and our truck wasn't due to get here until the following Monday. Thanks to my parents, we at least had a nice Aerobed to sleep on. It was our only furniture for those few days. We found an add the first day down here about a moving company that hired out teams to unload trucks. We thought that would be nice since my work would cover the expense... well, WHAT A NIGHTMARE. Amy kept texting me at work that everything coming out of the truck was being drug across the driveway and run into walls. I came home as soon as I could and tried to make sure things went better from there on out. The funniest part was when I saw one of the workers with our towel using it as a rag. Needless to say, it was not a good experience. Throughout it all, we are now mostly unpacked and settling into our new place. Here are some pictures from our move and last few days in Lehi.

All of our stuff ready to be loaded!!!

Nice place for lunch! A dining room table in the driveway!

Toby had a hard time walking up and down with all the holes in the ramp so he finally learned it was easier to just jump from the truck. In the end, he made the trip.

THE ENGINEER - Thank's to Amy's dad for spending all day in the sauna like conditions (the truck) to make sure things were packed nice and tight!

Usually rocking chairs have cushions! Wait, they're all packed! Thank's to Amy's mom for helping out and also watching Kaylie so Amy could get things done as well!

Sure Jeff, I'll finish all your projects you started and never finished!!! Thanks dad for helping out when I really needed it. Thanks also to my mom (sorry, I didn't have any pictures) for helping scrub walls and getting stuff packed for us!!!

Our last walk along the canal!

DO I HAVE TO LEAVE???

Where did all the ducks go? This was a second home for Toby. He loved to chase ducks (he never caught one) and just swim down the middle since it was easier than walking.

Both Amy and I really enjoyed all the time we spent in Lehi and all the friends we made both in our neighborhood and our work. We will both miss those we are leaving behind and all the memories that were made! Thanks to all those we became friends and we hope to stay in touch!!!

Four months old!

Kaylie is already 4 months old. She is growing up so fast I can hardly stand it. She was actually 4 months old last week, but her dr. apt. was today (like we didn't have enough to do the day before the move). The apt went as well as could be expected with so many shots. Kaylie's stats...75% head, 25% height, 75% weight. We love those chubby cheeks.
She is doing so many things now. She can roll to her side, sit up amost by herself, and entertain herself with her toys and her toes. She can pull the handle on her chair to make the music herself. Our favorite is all the "talking" and smiling and laughing ;she is so much fun to play with and we are so grateful she is our little girl.

Goodbye little Kate!

We went up to Heber on Saturday for a farewell to Utah dinner with my family. They brought out all the skis and some christmas snow decorations to remind us of what we will not miss. And made us an Arizona survival kit with extra strength deodarant, pool floaties, and some phoenix suns gear.

It has been so fun and such a blessing to live only an hour away. We have been able to see a lot of one another, and if we ever needed anything or just wanted to have fun, they were right there. I am going to miss them SO much. Good thing there are planes and cars.

I have been thinking lately how I could have NEVER been a pioneer, because I could never leave my family knowing I might not see again. It is hard enough to leave, and I already have plans to see them in Oct. and for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I am sure there will be busy phone lines. I think I am really sad to miss Kate...I think she is changing so fast and we will miss so many things between now and Oct. ...she doesn't exactly talk on the phone yet. I am sad for all the things that my family will miss as Kaylie grows up too. I guess this means you can definitely count on more blog post from me.

I wanted some UTAH family pictures before we left. We tried last weekend with a professional photographer and even though she took decent picts, Kaylie's performance was less than stellar. Take two...Crystal as the photographer and my mom as the "smile maker :) " and here is what we got.

The first goodbye

My last day of work was yesterday and I am finding myself very sentimental. I had just gone back to work after having Kaylie, when we decided to move and I feel like I have had to say goodbye twice, once when I left to have Kaylie, and now for good. I hate goodbyes and this is the first of many that will be soon coming over the next week or two.
For all my girls in the O.R. that may be reading this, I love you guys and I am going to miss you like crazy... you were like a second family to me. I learned so much working with you all and I had a lot of fun along the way. I feel like we were a team and we had a bond that is unique to us. I hope we will keep in touch.
Beside leaving all my friends I am sad about leaving too, because it is the first time in the past five years, I won't be working. I am sad to not be a nurse anymore and I am not sure how I feel about not bringing home any bacon of my own or having a place that is just mine. This has been a hard goodbye, and I know there are harder ones to come.
My mom has been watching Kaylie while I worked a few last days and it has been great. It is really to bad we are moving because it was working out so well. I don't think Kaylie even noticed I was gone...she thinks her grandma is a lot of fun.

Scared to Death!

I used to think I was the kind of person who remaind calm in critical situations. Sometime events occur at the hospital and I feel that I have the ability to put emotions away and perform what is nessicary to obtain a positive outcome. Maybe you reading this have thought I might be a good person to have around in the event of an emergency. This my blog readers is not true. Yesterday our sweet Toby dog had a seizure, or at least I think that is what it was now, and I totally freaked out. All I could do is stroke him, crying and screaming "don't die Toby, I love you Toby". Thankfully my mom had just come over to watch Kaylie for me, and she was able to act reasonable. I picked convulsing 54 lb Toby up and put him in the car. My mom got Kaylie in her carseat. We drive the fifteen minutes to the vet. Of course by the time we are halfway there, Toby stops convulsing and by the time we get there is acting pretty normal.

I tried to tell the vet about the twithching and convulsing and the dragging of his limbs as he tried to walk. It was the saddest thing when, unable to control his movements, he rolled on his back and looked up helpless. I thought he was going to die right there in the entry way. Even now, looking back I can picture the morning in my head and I am heartbroken for my poor pet. I hope I can forget the scene soon.

An update on Toby...they checked him out and he is okay. They couldn't find anything physically wrong with him, so they said he is probally epileptic or emotional or stressed. Who would have thought that moving is stressing him out too. He also said it is not that uncommon for dogs to have seizures. They perscribed him Xanax too, just like the kind a human would take. We even picked it up at Walgreens. We are supposed to give it to him whenever he has a seizure. Now atleast next time this happens I will have something to do for him...besides yelling "don't die".

Sound Asleep Sweetie

I couldn't resist taking this picture and posting it.

She doesn't get to keep them with her when she sleeps, but she falls asleep so much better with a "baby" or a blankie to cuddle. It is so sweet.

Cute Kaylie poses for picts.

I know nobody want to see her upset, but I want to remeber the way she looks when she does everything.

I have this thing about sunflowers...I love them. I love them because they remind me of Heber where they line the driveway to the house I grew up in. I love them because they are bright and cheerful and beautiful. I love them because they are wild and strong. I love them because they remind me of summer, especcailly the end of summer when you can look back on the summer and everything good that has happened. I love them because they make me sentimental ever year...and for that I hate them. I hate them because they cause me to look back on the summer, and if you are looking back on the summer, then the summer is over and I love the summer more than I love the sunflowers.

ARIZONA!

I know that some of you have already heard, but for the rest of you...the Carpenter's are moving to Arizona!

Didn't see it coming? Neither did I. Jeff got a position with Troon Golf based out of Scottsdale (still doing accounting work). I know a golf company, how could he say no. So we are packing up and heading out. It is pictures like the one above that make me think Arizona may be a fun experience, a new experience anyway. I am really heartbroken about having to leave our family, friends, neighbors, our home and our jobs. We have been so blessed to live in the community that we do and have our family and friends so near. Right now we are in the process of trying to find a place to rent down there, and getting our home ready for someone new, and enjoy some of our favorite things about Utah while we are still here. What a busy time!

Charelston Fireworks

We went up to Charleston for the 24th of July. It has been a tradition of mine and Jeff's, and this year we go to take Kaylie too. If you haven't ever been down by the lake to watch the fireworks on the 24th, you should. It is the best show because they are directly above you, and they are so loud. That being said...Kaylie is ridiculously over dressed because I was trying to keep the noise out of her ears with her winter hat, as well as my hands. We had a great evening..visiting crystal and jake, a KFC picnic with a view at sunset, and of course the big show. Kaylie liked the first half of the fireworks and was very good at watching them. The second half went not as well, but we all had a fun 24th.

PB & J cookies

What a perfect after school treat! Don't try these without milk. These are super easy and they look pretty impressive.

Need:
1 yellow cake mix
2 eggs
2/3 c oil
1 c peanut butter...smooth
1 c jam (your favorite flavor)
sugar

Mix together all ingredents except the jam. Spoon out dough into and roll into balls. Roll dough balls in sugar. Place on cookie sheet and use a fork to flatten. Bake for 5 minutes at 350'. In the mean time, pPut cup of jam in a ziploc and cut the corner so you can squeeze out the jam ( like you would with frosting). Remove cookies from oven and leave on cookie sheet. Use a spoon to make an indent in middle of cookies. Squirt a bit of jam in the indent. Put bake in the oven for 5 more minutes.

Disneyland

Kaylie has a love /hate relationship with Disneyland. While she enjoyed the jungle cruise, the tiki room, and the buzz light year ride, she screamed on pirates and sleeped through pinocchio. Here she is on the cruise looking around.