Little Ladybug

Ruby's first real Halloween as a Ladybug!

I made her this red tutu with black pom poms for polka dots.
(It will fit her until she's about 15.)
I made the wings & hair clips too.

Back view of the cute little bug
Trying to catch up to the kids!

The awesome glow necklace...

Daddy has a cute bum

After we got home, Daddy was nice and gave her a few pieces of "his candy."

Loving some Peanut M&M's

Next year I'll have to teach her how to be a little more aggressive. By the time she got up to one lady's door, all she had left were quarters. :)

Let's play catch. Up.

Ruby's latest obsession is Jesus. She sees a picture of him and starts yelling "Jesuuuuh" or "Jeejeee". We have the gospel art kit and she likes to carry the pictures around. In this picure Nick is showing her one of her favorites--Jesus and the fishermen. She loves to point to Jesus and especially the boat. She yells "Boat! Boat! Boat!" It's pretty dang cute.

Looking out the window, probably trying to see Daddy outside.

the "Blue House" is finished! Nick has been working on this house for about a year now. He did a great job! 2,800 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, granite counter tops and nice finishes.

Nick & I went to see Wicked in Seattle with his mom & brother.
FABULOUS. I have been loving the music for quite a while, so it was great to finally see how the whole story played out. Such a good time.

I ran the Leavenworth 1/2 Marathon two weeks ago. This was my third 1/2 I've done and this was probably the best experience yet! I've been training since July and I've done all my running alone this time. I always enjoy having an event to train for to give me a little extra motivation in my diet/workouts. And with the help of Van Halen and Miley Cyrus (just to name a few), I got 'er done. You can ask me about my killer playlist later. Pretty sweet, I must admit.
New this time were my sexy spandex shorts. Oh wait. Not by any means flattering, but super comfy and they got rid of a lot of wedgy picking/inner-thigh adjusting. Definitely a case of function instead of fashion.

Ruby & I before the race


Ruby likes to help me in the kitchen. She helped me make Snickerdoodles for Uncle Jer's birthday. Isn't she the cutest little helper?

My dear friend Jennifer Vance & I before she moved back to Utah. What a dish, that Jennifer. (I call her Vance.) We met in my first advertising class at BYU in '03, but our friendship didn't really bloom until the fall of '04. We had pretty much every class together and laughed ourselves silly. Love her. She's from the Seattle area and moved back up here about 6 months ago. It was so nice having her close (well, 2.5 hrs away is close enough)! She just moved back to Utah a month ago, so before she left, we had one final shopping trip/girl's day together. And I finally got to meet Holls after all this time! Vance-- love you, miss you.

it's pretty common to find Ruby walking around the house with some kind of comb, pick or brush in her hand/hair
One of Ruby's favorite pasttimes--sitting in the laundry basket.

All summer long Ruby was obsessed with her swimming suits. Toward the end of the summer she would see them and say "Shim?" then she'd carry it around all day. Or in this case, insist that we put it on her. She would walk around so pleased with herself and excitedly say, "Shim! Shim! Shim!"


Another swimsuit/pajama occurrence (looks like a singlet)

Side/back view

One of our last boat rides of the summer

The day Ruby and I went to the County Fair in Cashmere, WA. It was the first official pig tail day for her and she looked SO cute. The Fair was a total flashback, as I used to enter various cookies, pajama pants, items from the garden, etc. in our county fair. They had all sorts of animals. Ruby was terrified of the pigs (they're not as small as they are in her books!) but loved the horses and bunnies, chickens and goats.

A cute picture I found of Ruby, holding still for the camera AND actually smiling!

Zucchini Bread

INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil (I use applesauce)
1 2/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (I increase to 3 cups)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt


DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, beat eggs well. Add oil, brown sugar, zucchini, and vanilla; stir well. Blend in flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in raisins and nuts. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour. Cool.

I have made this a few times and it is a HIT! Nick keeps asking for more. It's a delicious moist bread with lots of flavor and pretty nutritious, too!

Enjoy!

Family Photos

While in Fillmore for July 4th, our good friend's wife, Kirstin Roper, took our family photos. She did an amazing job! Here are some of my favorites of the whole clan...

Giles Grandkids

Ruby will pass on this experience...

Layni & Lincoln

Ben, David & Nathan

Some of the girl cousins: Anna, Layni, Evelyn, Maren & Brooke

Grandma Giles and the granddaughters

My brother, Brian's family
Brian, Christine, Nathan, Caroline, Maren

My sister, Melinda's family
starting L to R with Jake (the redhead), Ben, Scott, David, Melinda, Evelyn.

My brother, Bart's kids
L to R: Brooke & Anna

My brother, Greg's family
Baby Lincoln & Layni, Greg & Kristen (making out in the background)

Our family photo shoot (mostly of Ruby, thankfully)

July 4th in Utah

Giles Family Reunion 2009

So after Ruby's and my trip to Broomfield, CO (to see and help Bart & KayLyn with their girls while KayLyn was on bedrest), we flew to Utah (July 1st) to see the rest of the Giles clan. It's a rare and exciting occasion to get all of us together, being that we are spread out all over the United States. I braved the plane trip alone from Denver to Salt Lake with Ruby, Brooke & Anna in tow. They did great. Brooke & Anna had their own special backpacks stuffed to the brim with coloring books, treats, barbies... you name it! They did well with the chain of command ("here's how it's going to work: if Ruby needs something, I need to help her FIRST, then it's Brooke's turn SECOND, and Anna--you're turn is THIRD."). Brooke just got annoyed when Ruby tried stealing all her treats :). We landed in Salt Lake where Ruby's daddy met up with us! It was so good to see him after a week as a pseudo mom of three. We drove down to Filly (Fillmore, for those of you who are new to the lingo), to Grandma Giles' house (my mom).

By the next day everyone had finally made it there and the fun began! I took it upon myself to plan the first organized Giles Family Reunion. Now, it was pretty low key-- I just tried to make sure we had plenty of fun things planned for the adults, kids, meals assigned, etc. Just to take the pressure off my mom and to help everyone feel busy. (It's not like there's that much going on in a town with no stoplights, one grocery store, and streets as wide as the Columbia River.)

The kids made bug houses, played water games, went swimming, decorated festive 4th of July frames, won prizes in Grandma's fish pond and Nathan even caught a couple toads! We ladies made birthday calendars, hair clips and had a great time in the kitchen.

(Birthday Calendars we made)

However, we all know that the highlight of our summer is always Fillmore's famous 4th of July celebration! It's an event that we start thinking about pretty much the day after it's over. And Melinda & I are scheming our outfits for it starting in oh... mid February. Afterall, it's the event of the year where you see everyone you went to high school with and everyone that ever lived in Fillmore :) Gotta feel a little foxy.

Filly's 4th of July Celebration

Three of my darling nieces posing in their red, white and blue before the parade.
Brooke, Anna & Layni.

Ruby in her 4th fabulousness sitting with Daddy

(Phil Robison reminding everyone to remove their hats as common courtesy)

THE Parade of Parades.

Fillmore's parade is always lovely. And it's only complete with Fillmore legend Phil Robison on his horse and his Millard High royal blue polyester pants.

For those of you that don't do small town parades-- you're missing out. Every ward in the stake has a float, most of the businesses, the high school drill team, cheerleaders, football team, etc. And almost everyone throws candy. A LOT of candy. I think it took about a week for all the kids to come down off their sugar high. And Evelyn learned how to be more aggressive in getting candy. Once Parade Coach Mel stepped in, she got her own bag full. Evelyn is still on the team for next year. It was a close one though... Mel you're awesome. :)


After the parade, President Christensen, a ward/family friend took a bunch of the kids for a ride in his horse-drawn wagon. Clydesdale horses I believe. They are beautiful!

After the parade, there are food booths and games for the kids. And don't forget the entertainment-- usually consisting of young girls trying to launch their singing careers with some super nasally karaoke. This year we heard just about every Mylie Cyrus and Taylor Swift song. Painful, but necessary for the complete Filly 4th experience.


(yummy flag cake I made for the BBQ)

One of my FAVORITE 4th traditions is the Giles 4th of July BBQ. We get to see family friends like the Ropers, Nielsens, Coopers and others. It's great food and wonderful to catch up with everyone!

After the BBQ, we all head down to the baseball fields for the fireworks. They are launched RIGHT above your head. It's amazing. Bag the Stadium of Fire... come to Fillmore! It's an experience unlike any you've had.

Origami for Kirb



The Sunday following the 4th of July we all took a trip to Fillmore City Cemetery to visit Dad's grave. The grandkids (and adults) made origami paper cranes, turtles, crabs, whales, etc. earlier in the week. We attached them to straws and arranged them in vases for origami bouquets on Dad's grave. For those of you that don't know, Dad served his mission in Japan. He loved origami and taught the 6th graders each year how to make paper cranes. After he passed away some of the teachers had the kids make paper cranes and hung them in the hallway in the middle school where he taught. It looked magical.

Just carrying on the Origami tradition.

Our happy little fam remembering Ruby's Grandpa Giles

My brother, Greg's, little family: Layni, Greg, Lincoln & Kristen

The Giles Grandkidlets (minus a couple)

I know Kirb was smiling down at this very moment.

The rest of June...

...consisted of:

1. Ruby standing, complete with Jazz Hands.
2. Ruby drinking from the pool

Dipping her hand in

Licking her hand

So proud and pleased with herself

3. Ruby discovering the hose

4. Leading the 1st-year hike at girls camp

matching BYU shirts. Tender

5. Splashing in Lake Chelan


6. Taking care of these delicious little girls

my nieces, Anna (5) and Brooke (3)

7. Hiking with Bart, his girls & Ruby

My brother, Bart; Anna & Brooke; Ruby (in backpack)

Yes, that is a mini CamelBak Anna is wearing. She has some serious wilder cred.

Ruby didn't like the backpack too much, but it was a great hike! Isn't the scenery amazing?

8. Playdough Creations

L to R: Butterfly, Catterpillar (KayLyn), Dragon (Anna), Elephant (Me), Worm
Anna's Dragon definitely won. It was fierce!

Rewind

So let's rewind back to the beginning of June, when the summer fun began! Things were getting a little too crazy around here, so I surprised Nick with a trip to San Diego. We even left Ruby at Grandma Mer's house (gasp!) for 4 days! I hadn't ever been away from her overnight, so I thought I was going to die. But that's another reason I decided to go somewhere that wasn't within driving distance--so I couldn't turn around and come back! Being without Ruby took some getting used to, but Nick & I had a blast together. No strollers. No car seats. Going through security at the airport was bliss. I even brought a magazine to read! As my mom would say, "I didn't know how to act!"

(Ruby minutes before we left for our trip. She was OBSESSED with that hat.)

We flew into John Wayne Airport near Irvine and so we stopped to see cousin Martha & Adam and their new little bundle, Sienna. I had forgotten how tiny newborns really are. And it felt really weird to be without Ruby. I'm pretty sure she's all we talked about.

(me holding Baby Sienna)

(Martha rocking the burp hold)

"Bird" is what they call her. She has so much hair and is darling! A great Martha/Adam mix.

The beauty of the trip was that I didn't really plan anything concrete--I just let Nick decide what sounded fun to him. And the fact that it was about 68 F made our beach decision easy... So we hit up a few other places instead.

FIRST STOP: SeaWorld

We almost found ourselves getting teary at the Shamu "Believe" show. It's amazing what you can do if you just believe... heheheh
I left my brains at the hotel and forgot the sunscreen. We were sitting there and Nick looks down at my knees. "You're going to get REALLY sunburned..." And I did. I still have the sexy knee-short tan line to prove it.

The shows at Sea World were fabulous. Our favorite was called "Cirque de la Mer" where these acrobats in alien-type costumes plunged into the ocean, balanced on eachother's heads did other crazy tricks.


I match the flamingos! I was SO SUNBURNED.
I also forgot how hideous my short hairstyle gets when I go under waterfalls (Shipwreck Rapids ride) and journey to Atlantis. I was a sunburned fro head.

Ride that Manatee!

Our hotel was located in the Gaslamp District, full of restaurants, art galleries and shops. We admired some fabulous art here and almost bought a Steven Quartly original. It was beautiful, but we decided we're not quite ready to start collecting art just yet. It was a fun experience, nonetheless. And to finish off the evening-- Ghirardelli double chocolate brownie sundae. Mmm.

NEXT STOP: Universal Studios


Universal Studios was fun to do once. I don't know that we'll go back. Highlights: Jurassic Park ride, Water World show, and the few Einstein Bagels that were still in our backpack.

Oh wait...
How could I forget this gem?

LAST STOP: San Diego Temple

Isn't this one of the most beautiful temples you've ever seen?
It looks like a fairy tale ice castle or something. It's magnificent!
We were able to do a session and the inside was equally beautiful.
What a great way to end our trip!


We were so excited to get home to see Ruby, but the next morning when I went in her room to get her, she looked at me as if she had no idea who I was. It took her about an hour to warm up to Nick & I (I bet you can guess how much I liked that...) Then she wouldn't let me out of her sight for the next several days. I think she was afraid I was going to leave again!

Goodbye beautiful San Diego. I'm so delighted we chose you to visit. Until next time.