Aquarium Re-Opening

 Like many families in the Salt Lake Valley, we have anxiously waited for the re-opening of the Living Planet Aquarium.  I feel like we were a little more anxious than most as Faye's shark obsession started shortly after the old location closed.  Since we had purchased membership passes last year, our family was able to attend the weekend before the official opening!  We met up with Heidi, Ryan, Viv, and my mom.  Thank heavens Mom had her camera, Faye and I had come from a baby shower and I had forgotten mine.

We were so excited to see Faye's reaction to the exhibits! 

Tucan.  I am loving Mom's new camera lens; you can hardly tell she shot this through the mesh.

Unfortunately, two thirds of the exhibits were empty and what would be fun play areas were still under construction.  For instance, here we stand at the "helm" of their giant ship.  The wall behind us still had the builder's scribbles of planning on them, no helm was in the room, just a white empty room with a window. 

 

However, the three big exhibits were filled with animals and so fun to watch.  Faye was so excited about the penguins!  She was so intrigued by the refraction of the water and was continually playing with looking above the water level and underneath it as well.

The floor below showed plenty of swimming room for the penguins. Faye and Alan loved finding the penguins as they were swimming.

Viv was entranced by the swimming penguins, too!  So fun to watch her little head whip around as she watched those penguins dive in.

The otters were just as much fun and seemed to enjoy the attention.  They swam laps right next to the glass where all the children were.

Loving the crawl tunnels.

 

The shark tunnel was the last exhibit on the tour.  Luckily it was filled with just what we came to see.  Faye was ecstatic about the sharks!  She jumped and cheered and pointed every time one swam by.  We stayed at this exhibit for at least half an hour, it was brilliant watching Faye's excitement.

Showing daddy a shark.

It was so strange to be at the opening event for the aquarium while so much of it was still incomplete.  Even the shark tank was covered in construction paper as you can see in our little family photo.  Love the photoboming ray.

Faye is speaking so well as of late.  She was very excitedly telling Grandma Lisa all the parts of a shark: tail, belly, teeth, back, fin, nose, eye, etc. So adorable.

Since today was the first time back to the aquarium, we splurged and let Faye pick out a toy.  She quickly found a plush tiger shark to never left her side.  It was hard to limit myself to only one shark related prize, but we happily indulged in the shark books on the reading table.

Hopefully the aquarium will have their other fish in soon, we can't wait to see it all put together.

Youngest of Geezers

This post is really for my entertainment more than anybody else's, so I apologize in advance if the subject matter is less than exciting and fully forgive you if you scroll past. 

I had a colonoscopy on Friday!  "Horray?" you may say. "Why are you so excited about this? I hear they're much less than pleasant."  I'll tell you why it makes me smile.  I have now officially experienced both menopause and a colonoscopy, both before reaching the ripe old age of 25. Now I get to make jokes about secretly being 50! Teehee.

And, quite honestly, I think this attitude of amusement helped make the entire ordeal much more pleasant than it could have been otherwise.  Don't get me wrong, I'd rather not have one every year, but it definitely wasn't the worst morning I've spent in a hospital so far.  Even the prep wasn't horrible.  

So here are my highlights of the adventure:

• I was starving.  All I wanted was a hamburger, and that's what got me to chug that gallon of 'joy' the night before.  
• I slept the 'prep' night on the couch cushions in the hallway to have a shorter distance to run to the bathroom if needed.
• My mom was kind enough to take Faye for the day.  We were so excited to see pictures of their adventures together while we were at the hospital.
• Alan and I were definitely the youngest people in the waiting room by at least two decades.
• Our nurse had streaks of bubblegum pink in her hair and was a pleasant young lady.  All three of us were in stitches as we joked about the occasion while we finished up paperwork and such.
• Just before the sleeping meds were put into my IV the next nurse was joking that I should buy her a boat.
• I woke up and was not crying!  I'm so proud of myself, that was the part I was most terrified about. 

 Me waking up.  I look so drugged still, I can't stop laughing when I see this picture.

• Doc said they had to run a biopsy, but it should be no big deal.
• Alan took me to lunch on the way home and I got my hamburger!  It was the best burger I've ever eaten.  
• On our way home from the LDS Hospital we were stopped at a red light next to Temple Square and Elder Perry was walking across the street!  He waved at us.
• I went home, slept, then went straight into a busy Friday night at work.  

I'm definitely not dreading a colonoscopy when I turn 50, especially if it means I get another heavenly hamburger.

Good Bye Chrysler

 The month we became engaged, Alan purchased a Chrysler from his Grandma's neighbors.  It was affordable and fabulous for us college students just starting a life together.  However, it came with it's own set of quirks.  For instance, the check engine light came on about 4 years ago and after spending $500+ on trying to find the problem, we were told that the internal computer needed to be switched out.  Nothing was wrong with the engine, just with the light.  No big deal, still safe to drive in, but once we moved to the Salt Lake area, we learned that it couldn't pass emissions with the check engine light on.  Last year we solved that problem by registering the car in Cache County, but this year Cache County is starting to check emissions.  Long story short, we needed to buy a new car.  The Chrysler was getting old and wasn't worth paying for the repairs.  

After we reached that decision, the radiator went out.  Now there was a big problem.  We decided to start the car shopping journey.  Lucky for us, it was a short adventure with lucrative results!  We stopped by the Nissan dealership, just to check out a model we had looked at, and wound up taking home a brand new car!  Apparently the dealership was willing to lose some money on the sale just to get the sale to add to their numbers before the end of the month. Win win for us!  I'm terrified to know we own a brand new car, but I'm grateful to know it shouldn't fall apart in the middle of the road.

Just look at it, so shiny!  

So glad we were able to trade in the Chrysler. I'm feeling nostalgic just writing about it leaving our family's life, but really it was more of a relief to wave good bye to it as we left the dealership. 

Daddy Daughter Date

With our upcoming medical bills, I asked Jeremy for more hours at work; this past week I worked 6 of 7 nights.   Alan and Faye decided to go on a date Saturday evening, I was excited to receive some pictures documenting their outing.

A dinner at Wendy's.  Faye's such a lady.

Ice Cream at Marble Slab.  (I was so excited to see them.)

And a joyous trip to the pet store.  I got a surprise dinner break just as Alan and Faye were leaving the creamery, so I joined my two cuties at the pet store.  Faye has picked up several words this week, one being "turtle."  She was so excited to watch them swim.

No Body Shame Campaign

There is a sensation crossing our nation know as the No Body Shame Campaign.  

http://nobodyshamecampaign.com

Alan suggested I look up the story of one Whitney Thorne after he listened to a talk show interview about her on his drive to work.  After spending much time reading Whitney's story, and after shedding a few tears (because I am pathetic), I want to remember and to validate my commitment to changing my mentality about my weight.  So my apologies to anybody who is reading this as this post is more for me than anybody. However, I highly encourage you to visit her website.

 After reading through Whitney's blog posts, I sought her out on Facebook and sent her a personal message.  I'd like to include an exerpt of the note as I've already bawled once while typing it up (I'm not kidding when I say I am pathetic and also that I have body image issues).

Dear Whitney,

My husband heard your story while on his morning commute to work.  He quickly called me up and urged me to check out your website, I'm grateful that I did.

I just wanted to send a quick "Thank you" for sharing your story.  I'm sure you get numerous letters like this, but your story was truly touching and needed in my life. 

Since I had our daughter 2 1/2 years ago, I have struggled with pelvic pain.  After seeing 7 separate medical providers, nobody can give a straight answer as to the cause of pain.  The general hypothesis, though, is that I have Endometriosis.  At the age of 23 I have had surgery, have been given several injections of Lupron (medically induced menopause), and several other medications all with a side affect of weight gain.  In addition to the medical side, I have daily pains that often make it difficult to get out of bed and often make it impossible to run to the end of my driveway.  I am now 40 pounds heavier than I was a year ago, which pales in comparison to your story, but has been a significant struggle for me.  I am an active individual and grew up running long distance, participated in cross country as well as track in high school, and have run a handful of half marathons and hope to run more. 

I hope to adapt your confidence and love for who you are and of your body.  Although, currently, I can't say that I love my body, I remain optimistic to know it is possible and am grateful for your assistance in helping to pinpoint the mental road block I have in reaching that conclusion. Hopefully I can reach such a mentality before my daughter becomes more observant and inherits my insecurities.

I apologize for the length of my note, but after having read your blog posts, I feel very connected to you.  Thank you for sharing your story and for your continued effort to help other women in the world. 

With much love,
Hannah Johnson

My name is Hannah Johnson, I went through menopause when I was 23 years old.  I am 5'8" and weigh 175 pounds.  I am not proud of my weight, but I am proud of myself for trying to be the best mom and wife I know how to be while in great amounts of pain.  I am also eternally grateful for my husband, his love, and his continual support and encouragement.

Mustache Party

 Greg has been working hard on growing his mustache for the last two years, so we decided to throw a mustache party.  Why?  Because we can.  We had planned to throw our party earlier in the month, but due to the weather our Loganites weren't able to make it home.  We postponed the party, moved it Logan and enjoy the small company of our little family.

I made some manly flavored cupcakes, Maple Bacon!  We also made a Mustache Themed Red Velvet cake.

Our mustache spread sans sandwiches.

We played a riveting game of "Pin the Mustache on the picture." 

Heidi made a lovely photobooth complete with mustache props.

 

 

 

Faye was happy to spend time with her cousin, who is crawling like a boss!

Faye also was kind enough to decorate Reed's shirt with some cupcake frosting.  The poor kid had to buy a new shirt before driving back down to Salt Lake.   It was a fun afternoon of giggles and fun. 

Princess Tea Party

Faye and her friends, Ariella and Miss P, each received princess dresses as Christmas presents this past holiday season.  We moms thought it would be fun to have a Princess day!  The girls came over all decked out in their princess garb.  We had a tea party complete with tasty corn dogs, juice, and cupcakes followed by coloring and lots of time playing in Faye's room.  Low key?  Yes. But that's just how we like it.  So fun to see the girls dressed up.

Grandma Lisa gave Faye this Snow White gown for Christmas.  This was Faye's first time wearing it, but she insisted on keeping it on ALL the day long.  I'm sure we will be seeing more of princess gowns in the future. 

I did my best to give Faye some princess worthy hair.  She has stick straight hair, though, and even with half a can of hairspray used on her curls, they were gone by lunch time.

I can hear Flight of the Concords singing in my head, "Ain't no party like a princess tea party!"  Cute girls!

Faye loves Natasha's hair.  She spends most sacrament meetings stroking the lovely dark locks.  Today, however, Faye was excited to use Natasha's hair to tickle her ear.  We're so grateful to have friends within our complex who don't mind coming over to play.