Southern Utah

This last weekend Jack and I made a short trip down to Southern Utah. The main reason for this little endeavor was to visit my brother Dustin and his beautiful wife Sloane in Blanding, but we also got to see/visit a couple of Southern Utah's unique sites, starting with....Arches National Park

Balancing Rock (pictured above)

Jack and Esther on the hike up to Delicate Arch. Esther was the youngest hiker on the trail.(below)

Delicate Arch

Rock formations near Devil's GardenEsther playing with Dad near Skyline Arch...isn't she cute?!

Skyline Arch is the arch in the picture below

Dusty and Sloaner with their babies, Zelda and Scout. I should have taken a picture of Dustin's small farm that he calls a garden. I was a little jealous. The closest thing to a garden that I have are a few flower boxes on the balcony of our 5th floor apartment.

Scout and Esther were fast friends

Scout even let Esther ride on her back....

multiple times.

Esther and Dustin

Before we headed home yesterday, Dustin took us to the Moki Dugway and drove us through the Valley of the Gods near Monument Valley. It was beautiful! Not only was the red rock against the blue sky quite pretty, but there were so many wild flowers. It luckily hasn't gotten hot enough to kill them off yet.

All in all, we had a really great time. Good company, cute dogs, beautiful weather...what more could one ask for?

Mustache May!

In honor of mustache May, little Esther has grown out her hair and her facial hair. I'm a little ashamed that my daughter can grow a thicker mustache than her father, but what can you do.

Nothing but green goodness...

Esther and I recently went on very quick trip with Megs...
to a place that is beautifully green and always raining....
to visit these two darlings....
It was Esther's first time on an airplane and the little dear was a saint. Both there and back she didn't make a peep. The people who sat in front of us on nearly every flight said that they hadn't even realized there was an infant behind them...she was just that good!
It was not only Esther's first time on an airplane, but also her first time meeting any of her great-grandparents. I think she likes them...

We also got to see Chia and Yeng. They came over to Papa and Darie's for a short visit.
Above is a picture of Chia with Esther and below is a picture of Chia's daughter Gabriella with Esther. Chia and I were best friends from birth and Gabby and Esther have about the same age difference as me and Chia. I love this picture because Esther is already almost as long as Gabby. I think I was probably taller than Chia by the time I was standing, despite the fact that she is about 2 1/2 years older than me.
Sweet Aunt Cynthia came over as well. Not to mention the fact that Aunt Debi happened to be in Portland at the same time as us which made it possible for her to spend more time with Esther than she has in Utah. (below: Aunt Cynthia and Esther)
Don't be fooled by that adorable face in the previous picture. This is what that darling is capable of...
Yup that is spit-up. And yes, that is also awesome orange carpet. I wish I had a picture of the lime green carpet in the room I stayed in.

I love going to Portland . Papa and Darie's house is the same as it has always been and it is just as inviting now as it was when I was 7 years old. I'm glad to still have these two darlings in my life.

Oh Spring, how we love you!

One of mine and Jack's favorite past times is going on walks together. Thanks to the recently improved temperatures and the purchase of a jogging stroller our walks have become much more pleasant and frequent. We have also resumed our visits to Red Butte Gardens. For those of you in the area, if you haven't been to Red Butte you should definitely put it on your to do list...really, it is so beautiful. Jack has been 4 times this week and I have been 3 times, that is how much we like it.

These first few pictures are from Red Butte Gardens. Jack was talking to an employee of Red Butte the other day and was told that they planted 200,000 daffodils. They have multiple different types and they are everywhere. Covering hills, fields and the like.

The daffodils pictured below are actually miniature sized daffodils. They were beensy.

The next few pictures are from our walk the other day. Yeah for jogging strollers! We found ours on KSL and have been quite pleased with it thus far.

As you can tell, Esther loves it too.

On a completely different note, Esther had her two month appointment. Verdict is, she is tall and skinny. 10 lbs. 7 oz (which puts her in the 50th percentile) and 24 1/2 inches (which is the 96th percentile). No surprise there considering Jack is 6' 2" and weighs a whopping 145 lbs.

And last but definitely not least, this dear has been sleeping through the night! Oh, I love this girlie. I'm convinced that our next child is going to be a terror because Esther is such a saint.

Take me out to the ball game....

Spring has sprung and it is baseball season again. Yesterday Jack and I went to our first Bees game of the season with friends Landon and Leila and guess what we caught....

Okay, so we didn't catch her, but she did get to experience her first baseball game and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. And by quite a bit I simply mean that she decided to stay awake the entire game and wasn't even fussy. Yup, she loves baseball.

and we love her.

When did these girls become women?

As I sat searching a friend's baby registry with my own daughter asleep on my chest I began to wonder where the years have gone. Sometimes I feel as though the fast forward button to my life is jammed making the weeks, months and years speed by at a surprising rate. Online networking has allowed me to keep informed on many old friends' lives, even if we haven't really kept in touch, and do you know what I've found? We've all grown up. Our personalities and interests may be the same as they were ten years ago, but life experiences and developing roles have stretched us from girls and shaped us into women.

Tomorrow I will be attending a friend's baby shower with another friend who is pregnant and another friend who has a one year old son. When and how did that happen? Adults with responsibilities? Children? A few of my friends are teachers, some business women,world travelers, college graduates,devoted academics, mothers, and wives. Some of these women I have known since we were girls and others helped me transition from girl to woman, but all are dear to me. So this is for all of you ladies, whether you are family, whether I grew up with you, danced with you, roomed with you, explored China with you, served a mission with you, was in a class with you, have regular play dates with you, whether I married into your family or you married into mine: thank you! Thank you for the influence that you have had on my life. Thank you for the life experiences that we've shared together. Thank you for the lessons that you've taught me whether or not you were aware of them. Thank you for showing me that growing up isn't so scary and is definitely not so bad. And thank you for loving me despite my flaws. You are the women that I hope my little girl grows up to be like. You are the friends that I hope to one day deserve.

Love,

Sausha

Hail the Conquering Hero....

A few weeks before graduate school applications were due for this upcoming Fall my sweet husband decided to change his schooling plans a bit. The original plan looked something like this:

Graduate Fall of 2011 with BA in English and Teaching licensure.
Teach High School English while working on a Master's in English
Teach Community College and possibly work on a Ph.D. in English

Well, after considering his options this is now what it looks like:

Graduate May of 2010 with BA in English
Graduate May of 2012 with a Master's in Eduation
Teach High School while working on a second Master's in English
Teach High School and Community College while possibly working on a Ph. D in English

With his change of plans he had to find a school that offered a Master's of Education and a licensure program in one. Luckily for him, our very own University of Utah does just that. With only a few weeks before applications were due he speedily applied for graduation this semester, took the GRE and PRAXIS II exams and applied for graduate school.

After waiting, rather impatiently I might add, Jack finally got word this week from the University. Not only was he accepted into his program, but he was awarded a scholarship that will cover essentially all of his tuition (we'll have to pay maybe $200 and then books and that is all). Not only does this dear man work full-time to make sure our cupboards are always stocked with food, but he has managed to remain an honors student while taking more than his share of credit hours per semester. I am so proud of him!


Congratulations Jackattack! Thank you for all you do for our little family. I love you! (Doesn't he just look so scholarly in this photo?)