Fall Again....

Six months have slipped away from me since I last updated my blog. I'd like to promise to be a better and more diligent blogger, but I'm afraid that promise would be in vain...so I won't make it. But who knows, maybe I'll try a little harder...for a while...until I forget that I was going to try a little harder on the blogging scene.

Well. As assumed, a lot has happened in 6 months. Such as....

I finally graduated from college (actually finished in Dec. 2010 but didn't walk until May 2011) with my bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the University of Utah. It only took me 8 years too! Ha. In my defense, during those 8 years I did take a semester off to work, take a semester off to teach English in China, serve an LDS mission, get married, take a semester off to have a baby and then finally finish.

Me and my Dadman. All 5 of my parents' children finished their undergraduate degrees and 4 out of 5 have either finished (3 have finished) or worked on their master's degrees. I'm not in that second category.

May also brought a new program for my husband. Jackie started in Westminster's Master's in the Art of Teaching program and has loved it! What a change from the program at the U! Because of the cost of tuition though, this program also brought about another change...we moved in with Jack's parents.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little worried about the move. Living in somebody else's space is never ideal. But it hasn't been bad. Bill and Karrie's house is big enough that we do feel like we have a little bit of our own space and they are so laid back that it really has been okay. I think Karrie loves having Esther around all of the time too. But how could you not, right?!

July's biggest event was a trip to Oregon. My family had been planning it for over a year and it turned out to be so much fun! Unfortunately, because of Jack's program he wasn't able to go with us. He was definitely missed, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves...as evidenced by my daughter's huge smiling squealing face in the picture below.

Enjoying the sand in Cannon Beach, OR

Giving a big cheesy smile after smelling the flowers at my Uncle Brent's cabin in Meacham, OR

(the 3 pictures above were taken by my brother Zach)

We did what Fife's generally do in Oregon: visit a lot of extended family members, go to the beach, whale watching on the ocean, lots of salt water taffy and last but not least, go to the Tillamook cheese factory in Tillamook, OR. Esther had been relatively good on the way to the coast, which is saying something because it took us 3 days of travelling in the car for at least 5 hours a day, but it was exhausting to entertain her on the drive. Especially considering the fact that she wouldn't sleep in the car. Literally wouldn't sleep. So, on the way home I talked my sister into using her free flight benefits and flying home with her baby and mine and I drove her car home by myself. 15 hours makes for a long day of driving, but at least it wasn't 15 hours with a toddler.

Some other favorites from this summer...

*Esther's new favorite person in the world, Ollie. A family moved in next door this summer who have a little boy 3 weeks older than Esther. They have a complicated relationship. Esther loves him and he loves Esther, but he mostly loves her when she isn't around. :) He will call for her when we are at home but when we get together to play he is pretty indifferent. It is actually cute and funny.

*Esther's first pony ride. She loved it!

*New bike, which she loves to ride and hates to share.

Unless it is with Daddy...
*Lots of reading with Dad and Mom.


*Lots of hiking with Tif and baby Cole

*And a new obsession...Batman. Really Batman.

She sleeps with a Batman doll at night. She watches the opening credits of the old Adam West Batman show over and over. She picks up phones and acts like she is talking to Batman (she even uses a raspy voice when she says his name on the phone "Bat bat") It is pretty adorable. Her favorite Batman activity has to do with her grandparents' bed. She acts like it is the Batmobile.

Here she is playing with Grandpa...and then Grandma joined in the fun.
All in all we have had a really fun summer. Life is good. I love my little family and really feel blessed for the experiences we are having and the people who surround us.