Lizzy in September

~3 Month Old Cuteness~
I love my baby! She's such a fun little girl.

Scott's Talk: Temples and Priesthood Keys

I know my family can be sealed in the temple together forever according to Heavenly Father’s plan. My family was sealed in the temple and I am they glad did. Some day I’m going to be sealed in the temple to my wife, so I’ll have an eternal family.

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus says to Peter: “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This talks about the priesthood keys that Jesus Christ held and how Peter would get to hold all those keys. These keys can seal you in the temple. Other keys can bless the sacrament and ordain others to hold the priesthood.

I am 12 years old. Now I am old enough to hold the Aaronic priesthood and to do baptisms for the dead in the temple. I am thankful for the priesthood keys and temple work.

Scott gave this talk today in Sacrament Meeting at the end of the Primary Presentation. He did such a fantastic job.

Twelve Years Old

Happy Birthday to the handsomest 12-year-old I know!

12 Reasons Why I Love Twelve-Year-Old Scott

1. He is SILLY. I love his sense of humor and how easily he makes me laugh. Some of my favorite memories of all time are laughing and being silly with Scott.

2. He is PLAYFUL. I love playing games with Scott and teasing him.

3. He is WITTY. He knows how to say smart, funny things right on the spot. I love how quickly he thinks things up.

4. He is SMART. I love how well he does in school and how he always get good grades.

5. He is CUTE. I love his smile; the way his eyes sparkle when he laughs; the dimples on his cheeks; the way he combs his hair; his tall slender frame; the way he looks like his daddy. He is so handsome!

6. He is CREATIVE. I think his artistic abilities are amazing. I love watching him create new things, especially things that I would never be able to come up with by myself.

7. He is KIND. I rarely ever hear anything mean come out of his mouth. He always wants to be nice to others.

8. He is OBEDIENT. I love the way he respects his daddy and me. When Brad and I ask him to do something he always listens.

9. He is LOVABLE. I love cuddling with Scott and giving him hugs every day. I love how he is not afraid to say "I love you." He is such a sweet boy.

10. He is one of my FAVORITE people. I love spending time with him.

11. He is PRICELESS to me. He is worth more to me than any of the possessions that I have, and I would gladly give them all up to have him be a part of my life.

12. He is FAMILY. Scott will always be a part of my family and a part of my life. The greatest part about loving Scott is knowing that I will love him forever.

Baby-Proof Haircut

I finally got a new haircut yesterday, to help baby-proof my hair a bit. It's still not completely baby-proof, but at least it's far less accessible to Lizzy's reaching fingers than before. Lizzy hasn't twirlled and tangled her fingers in my new hairdo yet. She'll probably figure out a way to do it eventually.

It's Official...

Lizzy is a thumb sucker!
She started sucking her thumb at 12 weeks.

Camping at Little Sahara

Camping at Little Sahara has become a family tradition. This was our first year bringing little Lizzy along. It wasn't easy taking care of a two-month-old infant while camping, but it was worth it. She loved looking at the moon and watching Scott and Emma play in the sand. I'm excited to see what she'll by like next year when we go camping again. She'll probably be toddling around, trying to stick the sand in her mouth by then.

Good morning, Twinkle!
I wish I could be happy like this every morning.
What a happy girl!

Time to play in the dunes!
This is Scott's and Emma's favorite part about camping at the sand dunes.
They love climbing up the dunes, sliding down the dunes, burying each other in the sand, digging holes in the dunes, and jumping off sand cliffs.

Following in his father's footsteps.
Scott arranged his sandals to look like this.
I thought it was cute!

My favorite part about going to the sand dunes is taking photographs.
I love capturing the fun moments we had.

Outfoxed by a Fox

"Only the sharpest eye, the keenest nose,
the quickest ear and fleetest toes
can ever outfox the fox!"
~Danny Kaye

Brad and I took the kids to a place called Little Sahara last Friday and camped overnight. Little Sahara is exactly what it sounds like-- a miniature version of the Sahara desert, only it's located in central Utah. It's basically all sand dunes with sagebrush and a few juniper trees here and there. The kids love it cause it's like a great big 60,000 acre sand box they can play in. Lizzy did very well, too. I was nervous about taking her so young, but we decided to do it anyway, and I'm glad we did. We built a campfire Friday night and roasted marshmellows. The children enjoyed staying up late, eating s'mores, and digging holes in the sand with flashlights near our tent. Lizzy liked looking at the moon.

Brad and I had a hard time sleeping that night. I silently wished I could fall asleep in our tent as easily as two-month-old Lizzy could, as well as Scott and Emma, but noisy campers, as well as hearing all the noise from various sand dune vehicles, kept me awake and alert. That's when I began to hear other sounds. I heard the crinkling sound of plastic and something stirring. I tried to excuse it as the wind hitting the plastic bags on our table and the faint crackling of fire still left in our fire pit. Then I heard something more distinguishable: the sound of something hitting the ground with too much force to be the wind. I sat up immediately, worried that an intruder was in our campsite. Brad felt my motion and sat up on our air-mattress, too. I told him I heard noises and that I was worried that someone might be in our campsite. I also told him that I foolishly left the baby's diaper bag on the table and I was afraid my wallet would get stolen.

Brad got up out of bed and went outside our tent, leaving the flap of the tent open slightly. He walked around the tent and told me he didn't see anyone nearby. He grabbed the diaper bag from off the table and sat it down gently inside the tent next to our sleeping baby. "I think I'll stay out for a few minutes," he told me, then left and began walking around our campsite. I stared out the door of the tent with sleepy eyes, feeling a little relieved that Brad had seen nobody near our campsite. I felt my mind getting sleepier by the minute, but kept staring out of the tent door, into the night shadows made by the moonlight.

Then I saw something move. I could barely make out a silhouette of a medium sized animal sniffing the ground a few yards away. My mind woke up in a flash and I instantly grabbed the flashlight next to my pillow and turned it on in the direction I saw the creature. There was nothing there but a small sagebrush bush and no movement to be seen. Did I imagine it?

The next morning I awoke from a long night of going in and out of sleep. It was about 5:45 and a faint bit of light was shinning softly into our tent. Baby Lizzy was stirring and grunting in her blankets, so I knew I only had a limited amount of time to go to the bathroom before she began crying for food. I quickly rushed out the tent and walked toward the bathroom, sneaking by the quiet tents of our loud, nocturnal neighbors.

As I was returning to the campsite, I glanced in the direction of the sand dunes, and to my amazement, spotted a small dog-like animal trotting along the dunes. I took a closer look and realized it was a gray fox. He was only a few yards away from me, glancing in my direction as he weaved gracefully and smoothly in and out of the dunes. I watched until he was out of site.

A few moments later I began searching the campsite for footprints in the sand. I saw my footprints, Brad's footprints, Scott's and Emma's footprints, and even tiny little beetle footprints around the tent, but no paw prints right off. Then I saw evidence of the intruder! Lying next to our wooden table was an empty marshmellow bag-- a bag that was nearly completely full the night before. On closer inspection, I noticed a second hole in the bottom of the bag and a small puddle of yellow liquid on the plastic and the sand. Apparently, the fox had dragged a bag of marshmellows off our table, tore a second hole in it, ate what was left inside, then peed on it and ran away. Sneaky little theif! He made it perfectly clear who that bag of marshmellows really belonged to, and it wasn't us.

The Highlight of My Day: August 2009

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in August:

August 1, 2009: All of David and Susanne Whitcomb's descendants were reunited this morning in Wilsonville, Oregon. It was great being together! Tonight we participated in a family bell choir with Aunt Wendy's bells. The best part of the bell choir was watching my dad conduct. Funny!

August 2, 2009: Today Brad and me took Rachel, Craig, Scott, Emma, and Susie to the Tyron Creek Park in Lake Oswego. We hiked on the trails and took lots of pictures. Oregon is so pretty!

August 3, 2009: Today we went shopping at the Lego Store in Portland and to Powell's Bookstore. Scott was completely thrilled to be inside his first Lego Store. Emma loved Powell's and bought a cool Batman comic book while we were there.

August 4, 2009: Most of the entire Whitcomb/Marsh/North clan went to Cannon Beach today. It was beautiful there... and cooool. We had fun shoping in town and walking on the beach. LOVELY!

August 5, 2009: The Norths, Susie, and Aunt Laurie went for a walk with the three dogs: Pippin, Toby, and Max. We walked down the road to an old cemetary. Scott and Emma loved walking the dogs.

August 6, 2009: We drove to Idaho today! I loved that we had cooler weather on our trip back. It rained quite a lot-- which was a little scary at times-- but it made the trip more enjoyable. Lizzy slept almost the whole time.

August 7, 2009: We arrived home today! It's so nice being back! Lizzy is now nursing regularly, which makes it easier than pumping all the time and washing bottles and pumping parts constantly. Good girl, Lizzy!

August 8, 2009: Did a lot of packing and cleaning up today. Tonight the Bruce Clan came over to visit. It was nice being together again.

August 9, 2009: Lizzy turned two months old today! She's a growing girl!

August 10, 2009: I heard Lizzy laugh for the first time today! She's so cute and precious!

August 11, 2009: Brad and I went shopping at Wal-Mart tonight and I got a new black top that I really like. Every once in a while it's possible to find something really cute at Wal-Mart.

August 12, 2009: I went out to eat with Margaret and the Polak family for lunch at Applebee's today.

August 13, 2009: I went to the young women activity tonight and brought home some make-up. It was fun!

August 14, 2009: Brad got off of work at noon today, which was a real treat! We went out to lunch at Hires with my mother-in-law, and afterward stopped by Amanda's house to see all the hard work they've done. Very nice!

August 15, 2009: Lizzy learned how to roll over from her back onto her tummy today! She's only 9 weeks old. WOW!

August 16, 2009: I'm starting to read a young adult novel: "The Goose Girl," by Shanon Hale. I got hooked on it tonight and had a hard time putting it down.

August 17, 2009: Tonight we ate popsicles for FHE on the porch outside. The weather was beautiful and the temperature was perfect. We had fun discussing what we liked about our week.

August 18, 2009: Scott and Emma had a great time playing with Lizzy this morning. It was so cute to watch! Lizzy loves her big brother and sister. She was quite entertained by their playful behavior and gave lots of smiles and coos.

August 19, 2009: Little Lizzy keeps trying to master her rolling over skills. I keep telling her she's too young for that, but she won't quit. Today she rolled all over her playmat and then off onto the carpet.

August 20, 2009: Today was Lizzy's two-month-old appointment with her pediatrician. The doctor was pleased to see how well Lizzy is doing-- how social and strong she is. Lizzy now weighs 10 pounds, 9 ounces, and she's 23 inches long. She did really well with her shots, too, and hardly cried at all.

August 21, 2009: Had all three kids in bed with me this morning. I love being a mom!

August 22, 2009: We bought the kids backpacks and then drove over to an ice cream social to spend time with Bruce and Loralee's family. The kids loved eating ice cream with their cousins.

August 23, 2009: Today was the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication, which Scott, Emma, Brad and I were all able to attend. We also celebrated Margaret's birthday today, with the family.

August 24, 2009: Brad and I walked the kids to their first day of school this morning. Emma is very excited to be starting school again. It was fun walking together and meeting their new teachers for the first time.

August 25, 2009: Emma got her long-awaited Batman Beyond movie from the library tonight. She was very excited to watch it again.

August 26, 2009: The kids stayed with us this Wednesday night instead of going to Melanie's. Brad and I took them and Lizzy to a back-to-school party at their school. We watched some more Batman when we got home.

August 27, 2009: Emma and I went to the dentist today to get our teeth worked on. It was my very first cavity. The nicest part of it was spending the one-on-one time with Emma. She's such a sweetheart!

August 28, 2009: We went camping at the sand dunes tonight! It was fun roasting marshmellows and watching the kids dig in the sand with flashlights. Lizzy liked looking at the moon.

August 29, 2009: We played on the dunes this morning for a couple of hours before packing up and heading home. In the afternoon we went swimming at the Harman's and had dinner with the rest of the family. It was fun!

August 30, 2009: I had Scott and Emma to myself today at church. Brad was feeling a little sick, so he stayed at home and took care of Lizzy. I enjoyed being with Scott and Emma. I love them so much!

August 31,2009: Tonight we went to Aunt Amanda's farewell party. She and her family will be moving to Arizona in a few weeks. We will miss them!

Goodbye, Perfect Teeth

My once perfect, healthy, cavity-free teeth have succumbed to the inevitable: tooth decay. I suspected that this day would come sooner or later, and it has. The dentist's theory is that I produced too much acid in my mouth during my pregnancy and it ate away at the enamel on my back left molar. So this morning I'm getting my very first cavity filled. Such a bummer! Still, I am grateful that it is just one cavity and that I didn't develop any more.

A Whole New School Year

Today was the first day of school for Scott and Emma. Brad and I decided to walk them to school and meet their teachers. We drove halfway there and then walked the rest of the way. Emma picked a small sunflower in a nearby field and gave it to me. It's hard to believe that summer is over and a whole new year has begun. I know the kids will have a wonderful year. They always do so well in school.