Mooching continued

When I was in Idaho I pretty much relied on my sisters to do all the childcare while I took a nap.

That shirking of responsibilities continues in blog-ville.

Read this hilarious post by my sister Alicia.

(And now comfort me in my guilt, Tessa fed this little guy a LOT, a number of times while we were visiting...I wonder if he died of high cholesterol or something.)

The Blessing of a Sister

Its hard to deny what a blessing having Alicia stay with us the past two months have been. No doubt in my mind that if she hadn't been here I would have had this baby weeks, even months ago.

Alicia left Tuesday morning.* As she was packing her stuff I realized that what I valued most about her trip was not the incredible amount of dishes and meal prep she did, or all the hauling around of Tessa, it was that I got to know her so much better than I have in the past 10 years. She was eight when I moved away to college and has sort of existed in my mind as a mix between the eight year old I new and the snippets of a young adult I've seen in quick trips home. Now, after two months of living in fairly (ie very) close quarters I feel like I know (at least a little better) who she is and we are sisters in heart as well as in blood.


I've been really thinking about how Tessa will be as a big sister, but in the days before Alicia left I suddenly realized that not only will she BE a sister, she will HAVE a sister. When I finally thought of this my heart jumped around in excitement. I understand how lucky she will be because of the fabulous sisters I have.

*I couldn't post this on the day she left because we didn't tell our parents we'd bought tickets...he he he. Why? I don't know, it was just more fun this way. (ETA: I just realized that this is the second post in a row about silly pranks on people...what does that say about me and Alicia?)

Cupcakes are like snow

Just like you shouldn't eat yellow snow, you should also beware of yellow cupcakes. Someone might have pee'd in them. Or in the case of Aaron's cupcake last night - put peas (the green vegetable) in them. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.

It started out a bit more elaborate than that. Alicia and I (okay, just Alicia) was going to make cupcakes and then make one single meatloaf cupcake and frost it with mashed potatoes and give it to Aaron for desert. Turns out that was going to be complicated, for a number of reasons, so we decided to frost a regular cupcake with mashed potatoes.

At the last minute we also added green peas to the cupcake batter (just one cupcake) and it was a good thing we did. Because turns out the consistency of mashed potatoes and frosting aren't really the same, and I put too much food coloring in the potatoes so it just wasn't going to be believable. However Aaron had no doubt heard the incessant giggling between Alicia and I and would suspect something was up.

So we pretended to get "caught" putting the mashed potato frosting on a (non pea) cupcake and then feed him the pea cupcake with regular frosting. He "caught" us and our plan worked perfectly. "Oh dang" we said, "you are too fast for us." Then he proceeded to pick out three of the cupcakes - NONE OF WHICH WAS THE PEA CAKE that we had artfully displayed front and center. Grrrr...

So I did what any self respecting wife would do. I stole one of his cakes right in front of him and popped it in my mouth - then I feigned remorse and went to get him a new one. He He he. Ooooh, I am so sneaky.

Two bites in he sees the peas and Alicia and I snickered. THEN HE FINISHED THE CUPCAKE - which, after a day of anticipation was simply too much for us and we hit the ground laughing.

Poor Aaron, no one likes to be the brunt of a joke perpetuated by two other people. But hey, it was April Fools with Connell girls in the house so what was he expecting?

Family Fun

I'd love to post about the fun time the family had at the Museum of Science on Saturday...but I didn't get to go. So... read about it on Alicia's Blog.

Good times.

From the Mouth of Babes*

(The babe in question)

The first few days that Alicia was here we were all sort of getting used to the rhythm of our life. After a few conversations Alicia observed

"So, I'm figuring out that Aaron, you are sort of a neat freak...and Emily, you are the slob."

In the mean time we've all settled into life and Alicia is one of the family. To summarize the past three days.

Saturday - Held a semi-chewed waffle fry that Tessa handed to her in the car.

Sunday - Caught semi-chewed grapes that Tessa lost interest in during church (notice the theme of our lives) and handed over her precious phone on the way home to keep Tessa awake.

Monday - Cleaned up throw up.


I'm thinking we'll owe her a pretty big gift when this is all over!


Last summer Alicia stayed for a month with our sister living in Ohio at the time. They had an extra bedroom and a spare bathroom. I guess this summer she is learning how the other half lives - in this pic Tessa and Alicia snuggle on Alicia's "bed" (aka the living room couch) - at first we offered her a luxurious down comforter. That ended when we realized she was allergic to it.

But - to Alicia's credit - Aaron and I mock our living situation, Alicia hasn't spoken a single negative word. We love her!

(And to make it even better she is at this moment making brownies from SCRATCH!)

Birthday Cheer

The paparazzi finally gets its act together and posts some birthday pictures of our TWO year old.

Loved the candles but wouldn't even try to blow them out.

You know, its time for me to come clean, or not...my kid is the one with the perpetually messy face. If you can still be my friend I'd appreciate it.

And as if to punish me for that, this picture posted twice and I can't get it to delete.

One major bummer about being on bedrest is that I could do the fun stuff for V-day or Tessa's birthday that I wanted to do...but she had balloons, cupcakes and playdoh (and tons of books) so she didn't seem to mind.

Tessa was a great helper while Daddy assembled her table and chairs.

Househusband

Last Saturday Aaron made both a delicious breakfast AND a healthy dinner. In addition to cleaning, shopping, etc. Yes, it made me look bad, but I got breakfast, dinner and a clean house so I'm not complaining.

The funny quote of the day - "Look at me - I'm multi-tasking!" (aka - making more than one type of food at a time, in this case oatmeal and toast ;) )

Other than that. Not much going on around here. My little sister Alicia will be arriving Tuesday night (last I heard) and that will be so fabulous.

For us.

She gets to sleep on the couch, so I'm not sure how great it'll be for her...but nevertheless she agreed to come so Hallelujah!

Niagara Falls

Third in our series of "The Udy Family takes a long weekend."
(I mean really, you'd think we took a two-week African safari with how long it is taking me to finish posting about it!)

In front of Tessa's namesake
(no, not really)

Trash bag family

Where we were, from above.

Cute little Leshy.

In Canada

We decided to forgo watching the falls at night, with lights and fireworks. As Laura said "The falls are really neat, but I've seen enough." And as Alicia said "Lets get some ice cream."

So we headed to Fort Niagara on our way back to camp. But we got distracted by the cutest ice cream shop in the cutest town and spent the rest of the evening there.

Contemplating.




Tessa learned to crawl on the grass that evening, and now she realizes she can go anywhere she wants to!

Palmyra - via Chill & Grill

After the Whitmer homestead and the spider incident we headed to Palmyra.

On our way there we stopped at an veritable institution called "Chill & Grill." Very yummy - I'm adding that to my official recommended itinerary. Big burgers, lots of fries and a soft serve cone, size small, that will make you say "Thats a small?!" Guaranteed.

While there Tessa saw a big dog. She was brave enough to go with Aunt Laura to pet it.


After lunch we headed first to the Book of Mormon printing site. Then to the Joseph Smith farm and Sacred Grove.

I've been to the Sacred Grove a number of times and it is nice to be able to spend some time there absorbing the Spirit that exists. This time it was really nice to be there with my little girl - and my sisters. And of course the husbands as well.




Our last stop for that day was the Hill Cumorah. Aside from the sprinkler to the face that Aaron experienced it was a nice climb to the top of the hill and a nice place to rest for a bit.

Then we raced to Niagara Falls and our next campsite before dark when the office closed.

Out building on Smith farm

Good Morning Seneca Falls

Our travels that day led us to Seneca Fall, NY. We went there to meet my sisters Alicia & Laura, and Laura's husband Connel. Laura and Connel live in Cleveland as of this past January and Alicia was visiting them as a graduation trip.

You know, the really nice thing about traveling with sisters is that when you call them the morning of the trip and tell them that you neglected to make reservations soon enough and plans need to change and that they now need to drive 2 more hours beyond the original plan they just say "okay!" and are still happy to see you when they get there!

We chose Seneca Falls because it was the closest, non-KOA, campsite to Palmyra, our actual destination. And oh what a serendipitous selection. You see this campsite was minutes from the Peter Whitmer farm, a location Aaron and I had never been in our previous 3 visits to Palmyra and that I didn't know we were near until I saw a sign while we were exiting the highway. And of course, Seneca Falls is the birthplace of the Women's Rights movement. I was very excited to visit both places!

In addition, Seneca Falls itself is a darling postcard-worthy American town. Completely adorable, but sadly, a victim, like most other towns in that region, of shifting economics which have left it economically depressed. The tour guide at the visitor center stated bluntly that people who live there either work at McDonalds or bring their money with them. I find towns like this remarkably heartbreaking.

Now, not only were we near places I was thrilled to visit but our campsite cost $13 for all six of us. Thirteen dollars! What a deal!

Here I am making breakfast. Tessa woke me up at 6:30 after sleeping like a log all night. I thought I'd be awake by myself for a long time but Auntie Laura was up and at-em and ready to hold the baby. (yeah!) This picture shows two funny things...Connel is drinking out of a paper plate. We forgot cups so used our boyscout training to fashion a vessel out of paperplates. The coolest. The other thing you'll notice is Laura taking pictures. That pretty much illustrates her whole weekend, she puts Aunt Paula to shame!

Here are the girls taking a stand!
Yeah for the ability to vote and have legal possession of your children!

Auntie Alicia and Tessa mingling with the crowd.

Last October I bought Tessa a "passport" to the National Parks. The "passport" is a booklet that you take with you and get stamps at National Parks across the country. Tessa got her 2nd and 3rd stamps here. The 3rd was for the Erie Canal National Historic Corridor. We missed our chance to get an Underground Railroad stamp but time was short.

The group in front of the David Whitmer home (reconstructed)

Aaron and I hadn't ever come to the David Whitmer farm because it seemed so far out of the way of the other Palmyra sites. I now realize we were missing out and highly recommend it! This is one of the main sites where translation of the Gold Plates took place and the location of the organization of the church.

I had just taught a Relief Society lesson on the organization and destiny of the church. In it we discussed how Joseph Smith told early members of the Church that their understanding of the destiny of the church was like that of a child. One of the sisters in my ward pointed out how true this was by discussing all that the Church currently does just in humanitarian work world-wide. The church's network enables it to be first responders to many of the devastating natural disasters and to the local tragedies that occur daily; they also work in dozens of programs to bring drinking water, measles vaccinations, wheelchairs, and medical knowledge to third world countries. Do you think that the handful of Saints in the mid-1800s struggling against mobs and persecution could comprehend that!? How amazing and miraculous our world would seem to them!

I want to be like Aunt Alicia when I grow up

My youngest sister Alicia graduates from high school tonight. Yowza! Congratulations Alicia!

When we were in Idaho Falls I got to help a little bit in making her graduation announcements.

Alicia just recently had a birthday and got a cool jacket from her boyfriend. Tessa got a hold of it and was struggling to put her arms in the sleeve...so I stepped in to help.

Check out our home girl.