Our little helper

I'm so smart. At least, that's what I decided the other day after I discovered a way to keep Cassie occupied while I made dinner. I asked her to be my "helper." I stood her on a chair, gave her a measuring spoon, filled the sink with a few inches of water, and asked her to stir. Brilliant. It kept her occupied for nearly an hour (!) while I worked. Definitely an improvement over having her under my feet, tugging on my pants while I cook. The only con was that she splashed a little, leaving herself and the floor quite wet. Oh, and the other con, that now all she wants to do is be my "hapah!" She's constantly dragging chairs over to the sink and reaching for whatever dishes she can grab, dipping her hands in dirty water and declaring "dah!" (stir). Maybe I'm not so smart after all.

Here's our little helper at work.

On the bright side, I'm much better at staying on top of the dishes these days. :)

Our Tree

Well, I wish it was ours, but for now we're just renting the shady spot next to it. I love watching the progression of the tree outside our giant picture-window through the seasons.

Winter

Spring
I took a picture of the same bud every day. It really did change this fast.
This year the buds survived a spring snowstorm

Summer

We just enjoy the shade and privacy all summer long- no need to close the blinds.

Stay tuned for fall! (At least as exciting as spring.)

What we've been doing...

Emily:

• Being a terrible blogger. Sorry.
• Singing! In a choir! A good choir! Called Deseret Chamber Singers. I'm a little excited about it. (I'm a total choir nerd.) Our first concert is October 27th at 7:30 pm at The Waterford School, which is at 1480 E 9400 S in Salt Lake. (hint, hint)
• Joining Facebook. I know, I'm totally behind the times.

Trevor:

• Giving Emily flowers because "I thought you deserved them." Aw.

• Being super busy with school, work, and research, while still being a great husband and father, and therefore being the real person who deserves flowers. (or at least the male equivalent of flowers...oreos?)

Cassie

• Eating bananas ("manas"). At about 39 seconds you'll see how she usually eats them. "Mah" means more. We hope you enjoy the clandestine camera work:

• Having a cold (Trev too). It sure didn't take any energy out of her, though.
• Making changes: going off the pacifier and taking only one nap a day instead of two.
• Really getting into General Conference: saying "Amah" after each talk and prayer.
  

The Whole Fam:

• Finding deer right outside our apartment yesterday morning!

• Watching BYU football from our comfortable couch. Go Cougars!