Maggie's latest animal interest

Yesterday, Maggie was looking through my UVU bag to see what treasures she could find. She found plenty to play with, and she found a new animal to ask me about.

At first she thought it was a tiger. As you can see, the yellow on the edge of the mascot's face isn't hard to imagine as the stripes on the face of a tiger. Good dad that I am, I let her know that UVU's mascot is a wolverine, and then we googled some pictures so she could see what a real one looks like.

Maggie was very impressed with the little fur-ball. Looking at one picture, she said, "Like a bear." Then with next picture we looked at she said, "Like a skunk." You should be impressed with Maggie. One of the common names for the wolverine is "skunk bear". The wolverine is a carnivore like a bear, and part of the same family as skunks, the Mustelidae, which also has weasels, otters, badgers and such.

With Maggie's new-found enthusiasm, today Laura and I decided to take the girls up to campus as I ran a couple of errands to get ready for school. Even though this enthusiasm is probably short-lived - what did you expect from a three year-old? - I thought it'd be fun to show her some of the wolverine statues on campus. Between the few statues and the multitudinous logos, Maggie and copy-cat Chloe were busy pointing and exclaiming,

"Wurmereem!"

I never realized how many mascot logos were on campus. It was borderline sensory overload.

Even YOU can use Venn diagrams!

Dear Coco,

Daddy still loves you.

Entitlement Trap

I was able to attend a couple of days of Education Week this year. It was such an incredible experience. One of the classes that really touched me was done by Linda and Richard Eyre. They have so many wonderful parenting ideas and I was really impressed by the them. I was especially interested in the idea of building a family economy. My girls are both so young now, but I still worry about teaching them the right way to handle money and how to avoid them feeling like they are entitled to every new gadget or name-brand thing that comes along. I have been thinking about this for a while now. The class on 'Building a Family Economy' was exactly the answer I was looking for.

The Eyre's new book is The Entitlement Trap. It's not on sale yet, but if you pre-order you can get an awesome deal, and be entered in to win some unreal prizes. I'm passing this on cause I think they've got some excellent parenting tips available. I know I'm always looking for good suggestions.

To read more about the book and to pre-order go here.

Bear Lake with James and Jody's Family

We were lucky enough to get to go to Bear Lake again this summer. James and Jody invited us to come and spend a few days with them. They came to Utah for a Dental Conference so we got to hang out with them here, then we drove up to Bear Lake together on their way home. We had such a great time. The Condo that James rented was beautiful and the weather was perfect. Maggie and Chloe were spoiled with attention from their Aunt and Uncle and Cousins. It was absolutely wonderful. Maggie has asked about everyday since we got back when we can go back with Uncle Jamesy to Bear Lake....I'm wondering the same thing, hopefully soon!

Chloe and Davin.

Of course she is doing her typical 'smile'.

The aftermath of doing her 'smile' with sandy fingers.

Maggie was so excited to ride with James on his new Boat.

Last year in Waterton, James took her for a ride in the Kayak, she talked about it for an entire year. I think the SeaDoo make just as big of an impression.

I love this picture.

I think it's so cute that they are both matching with the red life jackets and sunglasses.

Just catching up on a little light reading. Dave has to teach from a new book next semester, so some of his vacation was spent reading his new text book...exciting, I know. At least Maggie loves biology books too. (Dave loves it when she tries to say "mitochondria".)

Hanging out on the beach.

I think this is such a cute picture. I think these 2 look so much alike. Chloe was in Heaven playing with her cousins. I love it when my girls get 'Cousin Time'.

Playing in the water.

Rylin, Chloe and Maren.

James, Davin and Jody getting ready to take Davin on the tube.

Playing in the Sand.

Maggie sometimes makes a funny face when I tell her to smile at the camera. This time I told her to smile and show her pretty teeth, it worked out pretty well.

This is Chloe's smile with her 'pretty teeth'.

It didn't work quite as well.

Me at Bear Lake.

I had to take this self-portrait as proof that I was really there.

When we went to Bear Lake in July, Maggie would not get in the water. There were lots of sticks and seaweed floating at the shore and she was a little freaked out. This time was much better. It took her a little bit to get used to being in the Lake, but after a while she LOVED it. Once she figured out the water was safe, Maggie spent the next twenty minutes just jumping up and down and splashing.

What a cute couple.

Chloe was probably in the tube for over an hour. The kids would bounce her and spin her, she thought it was the greatest.

Swimming around with Daddy and Maren. Maggie paused in her bounces long enough to look at the camera.

James and Jody on the beach after a SeaDoo ride.

Jamesy Baby

Check out his awesome hair...he's a little wind blown.

My Cute Momma!

I can't even tell you how much I love this woman, look at how cute she is. This is a picture from my parent's blog. She is on a boat crossing the Congo River, how cool is that. They are crossing between Brazzaville and Kinshasha with Elder Kola (an Area Seventy) and Brother Kubangila (Country Public Affairs Director). While they were in Brazzaville and Kinshasha they were able to meet with several of their Missionaries from when they served in Ivory Coast, It's been fun to hear names that I recognize from when I went to visit.

I'm so proud of my parents, I think they are pretty amazing. I love hearing about their adventures and the many, many miracles that they have been able to witness. The Church growth in Africa is unbelievable, the Church is True!

Their blog address is http://daphyafrica.blogspot.com/ if you would like to see more :)