Friday!

1- This week has been filled with our little darling signing "more", "please", and "all done". I've been working with Lydia for months trying to get her to start signing, to no avail. But when we were at the grocery store on Monday, we walked past a carton of strawberries and Lydia immediately started signing "more". I was amazed! I asked her if she wanted "more strawberries"and she started pointing and signing "more" immediately. It was so cute, I picked those strawberries right up and put them in our cart. (I now realize how hard it is not to give in to whatever your child wants. It was just so sweet that she was asking for strawberries.) It's like something clicked because practically overnight she was able to sign all three things. The first couple of days were filled with endless hours of her signing "more-please" and David and I giving her cracker after cracker after cracker. It was just too cute to resist. It melts my heart when she signs please (which she does with two hands rubbing the side of her chest instead of with one hand on the middle of her chest) - it's so cute. I also love that she whines like 100% less than she was doing before - because now she has some ways that she can communicate. So nice. Right now we are working on "food", "thank you", and "thirsty". Next up: "mom" and "dad".

2- It's the Lehi Roundup this week and that has been fun. Lydia and I went to a bird show at the Hutchings Museum for a little while, then the next day we all went to the boutique booths and walked around, and we have big plans for the parade and petting zoo tomorrow. We love living in Lehi!

3- This week, David's parents finally had to put his grandma in a Memory Center care facility. David helped his mom move the big heavy stuff from his grandma's house to her room in the Legacy Center on Wednesday night, and then yesterday Lydia and I went up and helped her move all of the other stuff. We hung picture frames, arranged clothes and knick-knacks, and got everything ready for her move. Grandma McAllister is NOT happy about it, and that makes it so hard. But she can't live by herself anymore and her memory is so bad that she needs constant care and attention. This is the best thing for her, but It's a hard transition. It's been an emotional thing for everyone involved. We can only pray that she will adjust quickly and be happy (and safe) there.

4- We had a fun girl's day with Julie, Avery, Olivia, Wendy, Aubrey, Melissa, Amy (and Zachary) this week before Julie and the girls had to head back to Indiana. We met up at Wendy's house and played for a while, then ate some yummy pizza. Lydia and I are blessed to have such wonderful family.

5-I've been feeling a little down this week for various reasons. But David has done so much to take care of me. He has let me sleep in while he watches Lydia in the mornings, he has done the dishes and helped clean the house, he has let me be grumpy and provided as many popsicles as I wanted (and even volunteered to re-watch the last episode of Eureka with me because I was so grumpy about it the first time we watched it). He knows when to try to cheer me up and when to just let the sadness pass on it's own. I guess I'm just feeling really grateful that he is so good to me. I can't imagine my life without him by my side. He is such a good and kind man. I know that I posted this picture just a little while ago, but I love it SO much. It's my profile picture on Facbeook right now and I frequently find myself opening the photo just to look at it. I love it that much. It just so perfectly represents my little family right now. It reminds me to be grateful for what I have - and it fills my heart with happiness.