Museum Day!

Today was National Museum Day so we decided to take the kids to the Springville Art Museum. It wasn't too crowded and ended up being a lot of fun. They served refreshments which the kids loved of course and had activities for the kids. Addie, Cam, & Emery painted handkerchiefs while Bailey embroidered hers. They also had BYU students demonstrating things from the medieval time period, which I have to admit, was a little strange, they were from the mediaval club. They pranced around and sang a lot. The kids enjoyed the art, but we had to deal with awkward questions from Cam about the nudity while Addie tried to avert and hide her eyes. That always makes for an interesting family outing in public. Cam and Emery were also afraid of a giant Native American statue. Emery said, "I scared." Cam was also always quick to point out any naked butts we might have missed with a giggle of course. We missed the story time and paper doll craft, but the kids had fun with the handkercheifs, treats, and playing in the water in the sculpture garden. My favorite part was getting a big bunch of free basil :) ! One of the workers at the museum went out into the sculpture garden and picked heaps of basil and then just started handing it out to everyone, it was awesome! I love fresh basil, especially when it's free! Anyway, then we drove to Sonic and got ignored at the drive-up, so we drove to the S.F. Sonic and got slushes during happy hour. It was a fun day! Happy Museum Day!

Emery's Birthday!

My baby girl turned 2 years old on Aug. 28th! I can't believe how big she is getting. I actually decided to throw her a little family party the night before her birthday when I finally decided on what cake to make her. Her cake was a barn with a bunch of farm animals which naturally led to a "Farm Animal" theme. I found some fun games that we played and some farm animal crafts to go along as well. Uncle Glen, Aunt Rachel, and Cousins Jaron and Noah came over to celebrate with us. We also had piggy pancakes and pigs in a blanket (corndogs) for dinner. Emery loved her birthday, but has been confused because Cam had just had his birthday. I think she finally understood that everything was for her this time.

Emery loved the birthday presents and cards that everyone gave her. She was thrilled to get her very own money for the first time from Grandad and Grandma Black. She also kept reading Grandma and Grandpa Fox's birthday card and repeating over and over again everyone's name who'd signed it after I read it to her, in fact she brought the card to me today (Sept. 19th, I know I'm a little behind on posts) and "read" the names to me again. Lately, she has also been talking about Grandma and Grandpa Fox's dogs for some reason and will repeat their names over and over again... "Maddy, Arrow, Roxy!". I have no idea what triggered the excitement over that.

Emery is our very funny little girl and is very much showing us how independent she can be. She talks all the time and says the funniest things. The other day after a stinky diaper change she got up and told me "Thank you". I think that was the first time any of my children have ever thanked me for changing their diaper, I appreciated it very much. Also, a first for Emery was last night when she actually told me she wanted to go to bed (Big Shock, since bed time and naps usually end in psychotic screaming fits). She went over to her bed and repeatedly told me she wanted to go to bed, then asked for her book and promptly laid down. When we didn't leave the room immediately she loudly told us to "Shut the door!", until we went upstairs and left. I hope this new bedtime attitude is here to stay.

Chase took Emery to her 2 yr. well check recently and she had kind of a hard time. She loves the fish tank, but as soon as you take her back into the exam room and the nurses and doctor start prodding, weighing, and measuring, she shuts down and gets upset. She doesn't like strangers and she'll give them a very specific look that lets them know she's not happy about them being there. Chase said she did very well with her shots and only cried briefly, but while sitting there waiting she turned to Chase and told him, "I ready to go!" Emery's favorite activities are going outside to play any opportunity she can get, pushing buttons on phones she can get her hands on, playing with the remote control, washing her hands and playing in the water, baths, brushing her teeth (I think we might have a little OCD on our hands), coloring, reading books, going for walks (especially to pick up "Bubba Cam" from school), playing with her brother and sisters, watching "Yo, Gabba, Gabba", and wrestling with dad. We love our little booger very much and are very happy to haver her in our family!
Emery can hardly contain her excitment, I think I see some tonsils in this picture.

Emery trying out her pig cupcake.

Blowing out the candles. Emery was actually very good at this, no spit at all, very impressive for a 2 yr. old!

Emery and her farm cake.

Feeding her baby doll from Grandma and Grandpa Beebe, with her chicken puppet in a head lock.

Now it's the chicken's turn to eat.

Emery with all of her farm puppets from Grandma and Grandpa Fox. It was funny because most of her presents went along with the theme, totally not planned!

Farm animal puzzle from Grandma and Grandpa Beebe.

Animal sound puzzle from Mommy and Daddy, we still have to put in batteries, what slacker parents we are : ( .

Opening her new baby.

Piggy Pancake, almost too cute to eat...almost!

Piggy and his pig friend in a blanket.

Bailey, Emery, and Cam playing "What time is it Mr. Wolf?" .

Emery, Cam, Jaron, & Bailey playing games.

Emery really loves her cows, she hardly parted from them all day.

Cam trying to reach an escaped cow that somehow ended up in the tree. The kids had to find all the animals and return them safely to the "barn".

Emery finding a fox, and yes, there are foxes on our farm : ).

There are frogs, too!

Emery and her cows again, sorry, I know I have a lot of pictures, but I loved them all and had a hard time choosing which ones to post.

Brother and Sisterly love! Doesn't that just warm the cockles of your heart!

Emery playing with her baby chick she made, or rather I helped her make.

Cousin Noah coloring his cow.

Bailey, Addie, and Cam with their marshmallow sheep.

Emery coloring her cow and eating marshmallows.

Addie, Jaron, Grandma Beebe, Emery, Noah, and Aunt Rachel making crafts.

Cam and Jaron showing off their baby chicks.

The birthday cake, it was a lot of fun to make!

Family Photos Aug 2009

Fox Fam

Cute Kids! Cam, Addie, Bailey, & Emery

Me with my sweetheart : )

Rachel, Glen holding Jaron, Me holding Emery, Chase, Mom(Eileen), Dad(Terry), Monica, Clint, Michelle, Noah, Bailey, Cameron, Addison

Extended Beebe Family

Chase left for Oklahoma

Chase decided to drive to OK today. He left around 5:30 our time about 1 1/2 hr. ago. He is still very sick, my dad and another member of the bishopbric gave him a blessing today. We ended up running out of Ibuprofen, so when he left he was in a lot of pain. He hasn't been able to eat anything for the past 3 days or so except for a little apple sauce, so he didn't even bother to take any food with him, even drinks except water hurt him. I think he was going to try to stop somewhere and get some medicine so hopefully he'll be able to eat something later. The drive is supposed to take 17 hrs, so it's like when we lived in OR and drove here from there. He plans on stopping and resting a lot and told me he might try to sleep a little in his car at truck stops maybe. I'm really worried about him, so we sure could use some prayers sent our way. He has a hotel room for 2 nights for when he gets there tomorrow and for Tues. after his orientation and then he said he would try to be back by Thurs. I just hope the antibiotics start to kick in real fast. Well, I better get the kids ready for bed and maybe try to take a nap before work.

Cameron's Birthday!

Excited Cam opening his presents from Grandma and Grandpa Beebe. He got some giant stuffed ball pillows to go with sheets and a comforter.

Cam got transformers, and you can see he's wearing the shirt he made at Ceri's house.

Cam and his reptile puppets from Grandma and Grandpa Fox.

Emery loved Cam's cake almost more than he did.

Cam, Dad, and Aunt Ceri cutting the cake.

Bailey, Aunt Molly, and Addie having fun with the party favors Aunt Ceri bought.

Cam blowing his party favor.

Blowing out his cool star and #5 candles.

Cam's cool birthday cake.

Cam and his transformer that he picked out with Ceri.

Fighting with his new dinosaurs that Mom and Dad got him.

Cam pretending to be a scary dinosaur with his nifty fire fighter hat that we got him.

Cam's birthday was Aug. 17th and we got to celebrate it when we were in CA visiting Chase's parents in Apple Valley. Chase was applying for a couple different jobs in Vegas and CA, so we went along with him. Cam picked out a yummy Costco Cake and I made him pancakes for breakfast. We forgot to bring Cam's presents with us, but Chase ended up having to go back to UT to be interviewed for the Border Patrol background check so he got them after all. I had previously bought all the kids' b-day and Christmas presents at the beginning of the year during post Christmas sales before Chase got laid off (which I have never ever done before). I stored all the b-day presents in a box and brought them with us to my parents' house. All our Christmas is in our storage unit, because I never thought we'd be transient for so long. Anyway, so Chase got Cam's presents and brought them back to CA for him. Grandma and Grandpa Fox also took Cam to the store and let him pick out a birthday present along with some nifty new shoes to wear to school. Aunt Ceri also came over and took Cam to the store. Ceri let Cam pick out some cool birthday candles and a toy as well. All the kids got to go to Ceri and Mark's house for a sleep over also. It was a couple of days before Cam's birthday. Ceri had them make shirts, decorate cookies, and make their own pizza. They also played the Wii and watched movies, it was kid heaven. I added this little bit in, because yesterday Cam was eating lunch and got all upset and started to cry. He said, "That time, when we lived at Ceri's and Mark's house, that was fun. I want to go back. I miss Ceri and Mark!" So, I let him call Ceri and Mark and talk to them so he could feel better, which seemed to do the trick. He's my funny little guy. Anyway, Cam had a very fun 5th birthday and was sad to leave the next day for home. He was greeted with presents though from Grandma and Grandpa Beebe when we got back to UT.

What's Happening...

I guess I should give everyone an update on us. Right now I'm at work and thought I'd update my blog before I get too far behind again. The job I was trying to get before called me back when another shift opened up. So, I work an 11:00pm-3:00am shift 2 nights a week. I'm also subbing for my supervisor Sunday night which falls on a holiday so I will get time and a half. I am considering taking another shift which would be a 3-7 am shift also, but am not sure how the jump around will mess me up, so still thinking about that one. So far I like it, I get to work with a really good friend I grew up with and went to high school with who told me about the job. Tonight I got here though and the shift before me has had some problems with one of the girls, so here's crossing my fingers the night bodes well for me and the other girl on Night Watch. Oh, by the way, that's what I do. I'm on Night Watch with one other girl and I work at a residential treatment center for troubled teenage girls. It takes me about 6 min. to drive here from the house, so it's really close, too.

I am also waiting to be put on the sub list for Nebo School District. They are back logged though on background checks which they said some are taking up to 3 weeks. So, hopefully that will go through and I can occasionally sub on days that Chase can be here. I'm not sure about getting many jobs though because on the day I dropped off my orientation certificate there was a line of people applying to be subs and they were talking about how the other 2 close school districts seemed to not be hiring anymore. So, I'm guessing there are going to be a ton of subs and I might find it hard to get many days. I guess we'll see.

Chase has been battling Strep since about Tues. He was pretty bad and I ended up taking him to the doctor yesterday. He's on antibiotics now, and seems to slightly be improving. The day Chase started to get sick he actually was able to get a temporary 14 day job doing data entry for the government or something, but he got so sick he wasn't able to do it. He was originally undecided as to what to do because the OK Fire Department called that same day and wanted him there on Tues. for their physical orientation. It turned out the decision was made up for him though when he got sick. He was planning on driving to OK tomorrow, but he is still sick, so I don't know what's going to happen, he might drive on Mon. We looked at plane tickets, but we've pretty much exhausted funds for that, we don't want to charge any more on our cards and tickets were like $500. So, cross your fingers and keep us in your prayers. I'm just hoping we don't all come down with strep. We just got over a stomach bug that went through the family and Addie has been battling her asthma and a cold as well as Bailey and Emery with colds. We were completely fine this whole summer, so I thought wow, we're done being sick with weird stuff for a while. Then school started and Bam, we got hit! I just hope the winter goes ok.

Well, that's it for now, I should probably read some stuff for work and it's my turn to do bed checks. Since they want us to stay awake at work they encourage us to bring lap tops, movies, etc. to keep awake. So, I will probably post again if I get the chance.

Springville World Folk Dance Festival

I'm getting way behind again in my posts, sorry, but things have been pretty crazy. I will try to catch up. My mom took me and Bailey to the dance fest in Springville at the beginning of August. I had been there years ago as a kid. It was pretty fun and the weather was really nice, which was great because it was outside. Also, surprisingly, we got zero bug bites. We saw several countries perform which was especially neat seeing as we never even had to leave the state to experience so much culture. Most of the performers were really cool, with just a few exceptions, which I will explain in my picture captions.

We did miss one country when we didn't return from intermission in time. Bailey had her heart set on buying a Spanish fan from a vendor with her own money and we ended up having to wait behind a lady with a special order of just about 10 of everything and she wanted each similar item to be different (did that sound like an oxymoron?). For example... she wanted 10 fans, but they all had to be different so the guy had to sort through all of them. When we finally got Bailey's fan and headed back to our seats my mom was already there and told us we had missed some cool dancing from one particular country ( I can't remember which one?). She said they did some really neat acrobatic dancing and tumbling. By the time we got there, they were ending their performance with their rendition of "God Bless America", which I could have heard sung just about anywhere. Oh, well, Bailey has a really cool "Spanish" fan; I actually think it was probably made in China. The vendors were suspicioulsy not native and of mixed ethnicity, they were also selling several items from "different" countries. My mom got Bailey a cool magnetic bracelet that benefits some poor indigenous people somewhere and a purse from China (I thought all purses were made in China). My mom also was nice enough to get me some new poi balls (can't remember the spelling). I really was hoping they might be selling some since my old ones from BYU-HI had long since been ruined. We also shared a yummy scone with honey butter-yum!

Anyway, we had a really fun time and I know Bailey had a blast, so thanks Mom/Grandma! If we are still around and actually have employment and a house again, I think it would be really cool to host a dancer during the festival. They all stay with host families while they are here. I've always wanted to do that. It's nice, too because it's a short term committment, not like a foreign exchange student who would be living with you for a year. In this case, it's only for a week or two, long enough to get some culture and not get sick of hosting someone.

Well, enjoy my pictures, even though some of them are not so hot. I need a better camera. Also, this guy sitting 2 rows in front of us was big and had a huge head. I usually was able to get around him with my camera, but unfortunately I couldn't see when it came time for the fire knife dance and I have a lovely shot of his big, fat head. On the other hand, he had this really cute daughter who couldn't have been older than Emery. They were Asian and I think they were there with the China group, because she knew all of their dance moves. It was really funny watching this tiny, maybe 2 yr. old stand on her chair and immitate all the dance moves along with the people on stage. She was pretty good, too. She would do other dances as well, but she knew all the Chinese dance moves almost flawlessly. I wish I would have gotten a picture of her.
Samoan Fire Knife Dance with the big, fat head in the way. You can kind of see he is laying on his back holding the fire on his feet. Pretty impressive, especially considering the dancer was only 13 years old.

More fire knife dancing and big, fat head.

New Zealand Poi Ball dancing. She's dancing with the short pois, the ones I got are long.

I believe this dance is from Tahiti. I wish I could have got a picture of this Polynesian dance troup's women Tahitian dancers, but they were surprisingly scantily clad for a Utah dance group. They were really impressive in shaking their hips, but they were wearing next to nothing. Some times I wondered if they'd shake their costumes right off. The picture would also have been still, so it would probably have just looked like soft porn, so I passed on taking a photo. I'm pretty sure I saw a staff member from my OBGYN up there shaking it, or at least she looked really familiar, hard to tell though since again, not much in the way of being clothed. Side note: It's funny because everyone thinks the fast Polynesian dancing with hips is Hawaiian, but it's actually Tahitian, Hawaiian is slow and graceful.

I believe this country was Hungary, but I'm not sure, I will have to double check and change it later if I'm wrong. This performance was my least favorite. They sang the whole time while they were dancing through about 3 dances. It sounded like a manic, monotone, screaching, with an occasional pitch change here or there. It was really agravating and started giving me a headache.

Native American Hoop Dance. The little boy behind him was really cute. He just stood there the whole time holding his hoop.

Another Native American Hoop Dancer. This guy was really weird and kept making weird faces the whole time he danced. I got the impression that he was a bit of a show off. After he was done he ended in some sort of summersault and splits and then got up, bowed, and pranced off the stage.

China: Dance of a Thousand Budhas

China: Dance of a Thousand Budhas

Korea: This group was made up entirely of children, which I thought was pretty cool. The kids were really cute, and also really talented.

Korea

Korea: Fan Dance

Mexico

Belgium?: Again, not sure exactly on the country. This was my second least favorite dance performance. They did like 3 or 4 dances, but they were exactly the same, except for they would change their flags. They would walk around on stage, usually in a circle and wave these huge flags around and occasionally toss them in the air. I'll admit, there was some pretty impressive air once in a while, but it got really old fast.

China