The To-Do List

I love making lists and then crossing the items off when I accomplish the particular 'TO-DO'. Lately, I've been making a lot of lists as that nesting instinct is in full force. I wake up at 3 a.m. and can't go back to sleep as I can't shut off my brain and all the random thoughts and to-dos that still linger. The last few weeks have seemed long in uncomfortableness for me, but productive in what we've accomplished as we await the arrival of Baby BOY #5.

An example of the TO-DOs include, a haircut for Maggie and a first haircut for Sadie, which she thoroughly enjoyed, ordering school shoes and uniforms, finishing the garage and then organizing the garage after the paint job and epoxy floor, trips to the library, outings to the pool, cleaning out drawers and cupboards, scrap booking the kids last school year, washing all the baby clothes and getting the room ready, getting Sadie out of the crib (still working on that one), hanging pictures, cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, and then doing it all again as nothing ever stays clean for very long...and the lists go on.

You can just see her excitement...

After her hair got washed, they put on the monster cape, Sadie wasn't thrilled about the monsters

 So, now that my TO-DO lists are about done, I am more then ready to have this baby. This week would be ideal, a 39-week baby, I am trying to be hopeful, but am not getting my hopes up as most of my babies come a few days before my due date...so little baby boy, you can come anytime, we're ready for you! I hope somebody up there reads this blog.:)

Pioneer Day in Utah

We celebrated the 24th of July, the day that the first Mormon Pioneers came into the valley, at This Is The Place State Park...It was a great day celebrating our Pioneer Heritage. My Great, Great, Great Grandfather Perry Fitzgerald came in the first Pioneer Company with Brigham Young. He was a scout and was one of the first men who came into the valley. For his profession, he was a blacksmith and owned horses. The men who were in the first company, often referred to as the the Vanguard company, were mainly chosen because of their skills. They paved the way for those who followed. How grateful I am for my heritage and the legacy that those ancestors of mine left for me and my family.

We started the day at the Social Hall watching Native American dancers and then we headed up the street to the pioneer school. My mom and dad, both got in trouble with the teacher for talking during 'class' ...my Dad got the paddle board and my Mom had to stand in timeout up against the wall with her nose pushed up against the wall and her arms behind her back...it was comical to say the least, especially because my Mom is a school teacher.

After class ended, we headed to the ponies. Sadie enjoyed riding them so much, we couldn't wipe the smile off her face. The kids enjoyed the blacksmith shop and Samuel enjoyed his first real shave. We ate lunch under a covered patio as an afternoon thunderstorm poured down, then we watched the pioneer parade, the candy cannon and hopped on the train to head up to pan for gold in the stream at the top of the park, definitely Maggie's favorite thing. The kids rode another smaller train, explored a teepee and a Navajo roundhouse and sweat lodge and then we hopped back on the train for a ride back down to Main Street to seek some relief in the shade, change a diaper, and watch the train get robbed.